Speeches by Riddell-Carpenter.

“We also heard from stakeholders across the fishing sector that previous funding schemes were burdened by complex administration. What lessons has your Department learned from other DEFRA-administered schemes, such as ELM, and how can they be applied to the design of fishing and coastal growth funds?”

“Increasing the calamari intake is a must.”

“That is the question: how can we shift those habits? This is a problem now with the octopus bloom, but it is an issue that we see every few years. We need to have a conversation about our catch and eating what we catch, rather than just relying on exporting it to a market that likes it. How can we encourage domestic co…”

“A huge bloom, correct. Personally, I do not think that is a bad thing. I love cuttlefish, so for me it is a delight.”

“At Brixham, we saw a large volume of cuttlefish and octopus being exported. The change in water temperatures has meant that we have a huge volume.”

“It is interesting; that is not the feedback that we had when we were there. I appreciate that you are probably dealing with different levels of stakeholders and stakeholder organisations versus the frontline, but there is definitely a feeling that the sector is being forgotten about.”

“I want to follow up on one of Terry’s points about an unintended consequence of the family farm tax. One concern that I have is that the land will be sold to mega-farms. Some people think it will be sold to housing developers. I do not think it will. I think mega-farms will buy up the land to pay for the inheritance ta…”

“Minister, can I ask a direct question? How often does your team visit ports and fishing communities, and do your staff have dedicated and frontline engagement with the sector? The Committee went down to Brixham and fishers themselves told us that engagement often feels remote and very one-sided, so I want to get your r…”

“Yes, she is. I have shared examples in my constituency. I will say that it is one of the biggest things holding back farms in the east of England. There are amazing innovations happening in the east that we could be looking at with just a bit of support for planning regs and so on, but thank you for that. I have a seco…”

“Can I follow up on that point? I represent Suffolk Coastal in the east of England. Water is one of the things that are holding back my farming community quite considerably. I know that it is not your brief, but how are you working with Minister Emma Hardy? Are you looking at how water security, and including reservoirs…”

“We have the land use framework. Do you think there is scope for, and can you see the benefit of, a sea use framework?”

“Finally, the Seafish levy has not changed since 1999. Given the Government’s stated commitment to support the fishing sector, why did you decide to stop the levy increase? This has directly contributed to job losses and reduced capacity at the very body that is meant to support the industry.”

“He saw the merits of it, but I like your enthusiasm more. In Suffolk Coastal, we have onshoring energy infrastructure—infrastructure that is making landfall—and we have offshore turbines. It would help with a lot of the noise of all that co-ordination if we had a sea use framework. We also have a fishing industry. Thos…”

“It is good to hear that, because that was one thing I was talking to your predecessor about in my constituency, Suffolk Coastal.”

“Q13. The Prime Minister will know that special educational needs and disabilities provision is in crisis across the country, but it is in particular crisis in Suffolk, where the county council is in special measures for its failings. I am delighted that the Government have listened to one of my asks, which is to have a…”

“The Government have ambitious targets for replacing the use of animals in science and testing. How are you ensuring that we are not going to simply be outsourcing that problem to countries with lower animal welfare standards?”

“You explained the challenge very well. The strategy also defines the vision of replacing animals in research and development in, “All but exceptional circumstances.” What does that mean, and how do we define exceptional circumstances?”

“Finally, what safeguards exist to prevent the premature phase-out of tests that protect environment and health?”

“Could you give me an example?”

“I represent Suffolk Coastal. We have the Port of Felixstowe, which is not Ro/Ro but we have a history of intercepting illegal meat smuggling from containers on lorries. How does the discussion that we have had apply to non-Ro/Ro vans? Because in the Port of Felixstowe’s case, we are not talking about vans; we are talki…”