Speeches by Zeichner.

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend because she makes some important points. Ahead of the Budget, there were lots of predictions about what would happen. Of course, what happened is that this Government have protected the farming budget—indeed, raised it—and we are absolutely committed to paying out to farmers the £60 mill…”

“I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for promoting me to Secretary of State—I hope he has similar success in the coming hours. The hon. Gentleman raises a whole series of questions. He asked again, as others have, about other elements in the Budget. The figures are absolutely there; they were published by the Treas…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her contribution. Can I say how much I enjoyed visiting Wales, with the Welsh Minister, very early in my tenure? It was an important sign from this Government that we take farming seriously across the entire United Kingdom. I share my hon. Friend’s very strong points about the importance of t…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for his questions, which are serious and important, as one would expect. Let me start by pointing out that until 1992, this relief did not exist. The system has existed before and people have operated differently, although I accept it has been different for the past 30 years. Turning to th…”

“Seventy-three per cent of agricultural property relief claims are for less than £1 million. The vast majority of farmers will not be affected. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done. It is a fair and balanced approach that protects family farms whi…”

“In 20 seconds.”

“The Secretary of State met Tom Bradshaw this morning. We completely understand farmers’ anxieties about the changes, but rural communities need a better NHS, affordable housing and public transport, and we can provide that if we make the system fairer. The reforms to agricultural property relief mean that farmers can a…”

“I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his place—he will make an excellent Chair of the Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs—and thank him for the opportunity to talk about this important issue. As the Minister for Food Security, I can assure the House that food security is national security. The Gove…”

“The hon. Member asks what we did. What we did was look at the farming budget and ensure that we protected it, to allow his constituents and constituents across the country to take part in the schemes that will support them in that important transition.”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I will always look with keen interest at anything that can help us to make progress. In terms of how we provide support and reassurance to those small farmers, that again is by making sure that we have a strong, stable economy.”

“The right hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. We will be addressing it through the land use framework, which will be delivered in the next couple of months. Of course there are trade-offs. There are a range of pressures on our land, in respect of housing, food, energy and so many other things. We need to have…”

“I would reassure that farmer. I am afraid that I do not think he is correct on that, and we are absolutely determined to ensure that he can hand on his farm, as others have done before, but let us ensure that he gets the proper advice.”

“I refer the hon. Lady to my earlier answer. The figures are in the Treasury papers for all to see.”

“Yes, we have, because we have looked at the figures. Again, I do not recognise the hon. Gentleman’s characterisation although, given some of the things that have been said over the last few days, I understand why people are alarmed.”

“I find it hard to respond to a question like that. I spoke earlier about using language carefully, and I would just reiterate that point.”

“The right hon. Gentleman is very knowledgeable about these issues. I just gently ask him to look closely at the detail and the figures, which show that the numbers are low. I do not recognise his characterisation of the future.”

“I think the hon. Gentleman will know that the definition of a farm is actually rather complicated. That is what makes this quite a difficult debate, and I am not going to comment on individual farms, but the overall assessment—[Interruption.] Let me return to the point about the Treasury figures, which show that the nu…”

“I understand the point but, first, much of this can be avoided through proper planning. Secondly, Devon is one of the counties where we most often hear it said that people are coming in and buying up land for the wrong reasons.”

“I am grateful to my hon. Friend. The schemes we have in place will help us to work with farmers on those issues—alongside, of course, the payment of the £60 million that the previous Government promised.”

“Once again, I would say that it is by having a stable, sensible approach to farming support in the coming years. Clearly in Scotland this area is devolved, and it is for the Scottish Government to determine how they operate, but we are setting the overall context, and in a stable economy in the future farmers will thri…”