Speeches by Riddell-Carpenter.

“7. What steps she is taking to promote coastal Britain to overseas visitors.”

“I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement. The port of Felixstowe is the UK’s busiest container shipping port. Though we import more than we export, we are also the ninth-largest exporter, and the USA market is important for our local and national trading markets. Last night’s news will likely have a significant imp…”

“The tourism industry in East Suffolk is worth an estimated £693 million and accounts for over 15% of jobs locally, but we have suffered post pandemic. Estimates suggest that we are down 2 million on pre-pandemic numbers, which I imagine is just the tip of the iceberg. Can the Minister share with me what he is doing to …”

“Four schools in Suffolk will benefit from today’s announcement, and two of them are in my constituency. I am delighted that Reydon and Waldringfield primary schools will benefit. Does the Minister agree that this new scheme will directly benefit rural constituencies such as mine at a time when access to nursery provisi…”

“6. What discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on best practice for public sector reform.”

“I welcome what the Minister said about public service reform being a shared challenge. Does she agree that it is in the interests of patients and people in Northern Ireland and England for the Executive and the Government to share knowledge and best practice?”

“We are now going to cover off the Groceries Code Adjudicator in some more detail. At the heart of this is the supermarkets and the profits they make at the expense of the farmers, the farming industry and producers. Can I get you to comment, Minister? Of the big six supermarkets, we saw Tesco make a profit of £2.8 bill…”

“I will be cheeky and raise another point before I pass on to my colleagues. I appreciate all of that and what you are saying about those excessive profits, but there is also the issue of farmwashing—where some of those supermarkets that I have just named will reframe some of the goods on their shelves as coming from fa…”

“I understand, thank you.”

“Thank you.”

“I want to take you back to the reference that was just made to the land use framework. I appreciate it is outside your remit, but I am interested in your view on whether you see the merit and value in extending the land use framework to a land and sea use framework, given some of the challenges we spoke about earlier i…”

“I want to tackle two aspects. One is the six-week closure, and the other is the scale of the fund. Constituents and farmers reached out to me on the evening the fund was closed with, and they had real concerns about having to work through it. It would be good to hear from you, Minister. There was never a six-week deadl…”

“One more quick question, and then we will move on to profitability in the supply chain. We have spent over £1 billion over the last 10 years on controls and compensation for TB, and I understand that the projections for the next decade are equally £1 billion for controls, compensation and checks. I know that you are re…”

“To be clear, and I know Jayne will jump in on this as well, it is the checks at the borders that we have had a lot of representation about. We have heard about the lack of coverage and the lack of checks, which is where the point of that concern stems from.”

“Yes, when they reach the point of fallout, effectively.”

“That brings me on to my second question, which I suspect might be more of a point than a question, but I would appreciate your comments on it. I appreciate there is a lot of emotion and frustration that people rightly have because the funds closed when they were trying to access them. I have had those conversations at …”

“Sorry.”

“Moving on, what steps has the Department taken to safeguard the British livestock sectors following the foot and mouth outbreaks recently?”

“Thank you, Chair. There are a few sections that we will now go on to: profitability, the Groceries Code Adjudicator and other issues that specifically sit within the supply chain. I am not going to spend too long on my question because I appreciate the issue with the time, as the Chair set out. This is a topic that I a…”

“Excellent. You announced that the fruit and vegetables aid scheme for producers will end in England on 1 January 2026. What engagement are you having with the industry and devolved Administrations to design an alternative to that?”