Speeches by Zeichner.

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we should all be proud of high-quality British producers like Longley farm. That is why, back in July, I announced our food strategy, which will build pride in British food by ensuring we have a food system that backs British food, grows the economy, feeds the nation, nourishes i…”

“Funding for the environmental land management schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150%, from £800 million in 2023-24 to £2 billion by 2028-29. Sadly, though, we inherited a set of schemes that did not necessarily distribute funds fairly. We are working with farmers to reshape the SFI, and further information about…”

“Let me start by acknowledging just how tough it has been for so many farmers this year, having been faced with the very extreme weather conditions. We have had very hot weather, following on from last year, when many suffered from floods. It is undeniable that we are seeing our climate changing. The Government are resp…”

“My hon. Friend makes a very important point. Of course, consumer food prices depend on a wide range of factors, including agrifood import prices, agricultural prices in general, domestic labour and manufacturing costs, exchange rates, productivity and the extreme weather we have been seeing, which inevitably impacts gr…”

“No, I do not agree with the shadow Minister. I have chosen my words carefully: this is a complicated set of issues, we are consulting and we will be coming back with our proposals shortly.”

“There was a lot in that question. The hon. Lady is absolutely right that herbal leys have been very effective, and many people have seen the impact they have had during the dry weather. It is also interesting that these schemes are now available to much smaller enterprises than they ever were under the previous schemes…”

“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Free-Range Poultrymeat Marketing Standards (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2025. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Jeremy. I warmly welcome everyone back, and hope they had a good break. This statutory instrument has been laid to amend exis…”

“It is always a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. Let me congratulate the right hon. Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay)—my near neighbour and colleague—on securing today’s debate on such an important policy area. He is clearly deeply knowledgeable on issues relating to EU negotiation and…”

“It is a pleasure to respond to the debate, so ably introduced by the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael). He, along with every Member from across the Chamber who made a contribution, pointed out the seriousness of the issue and the urgent need for action. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest en…”

“I assure the hon. Gentleman that we are working with all interested parties to ensure that we make progress on this issue. My hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice (Emma Hardy) recently co-hosted a ministerial event at the UN ocean conference to bring together Ministers from a range of coun…”

“I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s well-informed intervention. I assure him that negotiations and discussions are ongoing, and we are determined to ensure that we get a good outcome. As well as leading early work to develop criteria for problematic plastic products since the second negotiating session, INC2, the UK…”

“Of course—absolutely. We are always working in collaboration, and we will do everything we can to ensure that. It is an important principle that has been established, and I am determined to ensure that it is successful. Next month, at the resumed fifth session of the intergovernmental negotiating committee, we will hav…”

“That is a really important question. Many of us were critical of the way in which some of those trade agreements were negotiated by the previous Government, but it is important to note that the quotas being used at the moment are relatively low; we will be watching this very closely to make sure that, if we begin to se…”

“We discussed in detail with the Welsh Government and others when we were thinking about what to do in England a few months ago. Since then, we have been very mindful of the points that have been raised by a number of people about these concerns. My understanding is that a range of measures are being looked at to try to…”

“No, not at all. Thank you for the question, and, yes, I did anticipate it. Many of us have had exchanges in the Chamber on this issue. They were sometimes a little pointed. I apologise. The Chamber is a different forum from here. The first thing that I have to say is that this is a decision for the Treasury, so I can a…”

“This is one of a number of disease threats we have. It is really difficult for people. We absolutely understand the problem. We saw it first in the Netherlands; it has come across the country. It is midge-borne. In England, we set up the control zones that certainly prevented it moving as quickly as it would have done …”

“It is very good to see you. It is a very important question, and we probably will go on to talk about the tax issues. Looking across the whole of the United Kingdom, it seems to me that there is certainly a challenge for the sector in terms of getting a generational shift. That is hard, because farming is not like othe…”

“The Groceries Code Adjudicator does a very good job. It is a very specific job. Through the fair dealing clauses that are available to us under the Agriculture Act, we have introduced a second adjudicator, the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator. That is a relatively new role, which came in on the back of the dairy r…”

“I have to say that the SPS agreement, for me, is one of the most important things that I have been working on. For the last few years, it has been very clear that so many businesses have had difficulties. We have many really good food businesses in Wales and across the UK. I was very struck on the evening of the announ…”

“Yes, if they are very quick.”