Speeches by Glen.

“It is quite instructive in terms of the Swedish experience, where it went down one route thinking that was the future, but it has not been. I visited Sweden in April, and it is concerned about all these different scenarios in terms of the legislation around civil contingency. How do you view the UK’s resilience in the …”

“Fifteen years ago, just before I joined this House, we saw the reorganisation of Wiltshire county council into the unitary Wiltshire council, and the abolition of several district councils. It seems that another reform in the heart of Wessex will be the probable outcome of these proposals for Somerset, Dorset and Wilts…”

“I acknowledge the transformation in the security threat that this country faces, and I urge the Government to move forward as quickly as they can with the implementation of FIRS. However, I draw the Minister’s attention to the website of the US Department of the Treasury, which today gave a read-out on the seventh meet…”

“And give you space to do all the other things that you need to?”

“A lot of things have been mentioned about profitability. You could talk about how the previous Government did not get the capital grants out quickly enough, you have uncertainty over the land use framework, you have the thresholds and the national insurance changes, the distribution of value across the supply chain for…”

“Tom, you were reported to have met with the Prime Minister, and it was reported that he had indicated there would be a softening in the approach. Do you have any observations about that report?”

“Could I ask you about business rollover relief? There is a wide consensus that people who sell businesses to defer capital gains tax by buying large tracts of land are who most people feel should be dealt with. Could it not have been more effective and more targeted to use business rollover relief to tackle those peopl…”

“Why do you think that would not have been looked at? Because it would clearly have saved the Government lots of challenges presentationally.”

“Can I ask about the net effect? If we look at the OBR on page 70, table 3.8 it says, “There are a whole list of measures with high or very high uncertainty.” Obviously, we understand that farmers and those who advise farmers will be able to put mitigations to some extent depending on age, the family structure and so on…”

“Can I probe a little more in terms of the net effect? David, perhaps we will come to you in a second, but your boss, Paul Johnson, who I have done some media with, is totally relaxed about this change. He sees it as a clear loophole. But one of the things that is vexing for the farming industry is the interaction with …”

“Could I ask my last question, Chair, and could I turn this to Jeremy and Stuart? Obviously, Jeremy, you have a career of experience in terms of advice and analysis of the rural economy. Surely most savvy farmers can find ways of mitigating the full extent of this. Is there not a lot of unnecessary concern? How do you r…”

“Will the NFU Mutual and others not provide financial instruments to many earlier on to make mitigations so they can plan?”

“What is the average age of farmers? Is it mid-60s?”

“Tom, you were reported to have met with the Prime Minister, and it was reported that he had indicated there would be a softening in the approach. Do you have any observations about that report?”

“Just very quickly on process. Pre-Budget, you would not normally expect to speak to Treasury Ministers, would you? Was the way the run-up to the Budget was conducted unusual?”

“I am trying to be fair to this Government, in that on fiscal measures you would not expect to have a dialogue before a Budget, would you?”

“A lot of things have been mentioned about profitability. You could talk about how the previous Government did not get the capital grants out quickly enough, you have uncertainty over the land use framework, you have the thresholds and the national insurance changes, the distribution of value across the supply chain for…”

“And give you space to do all the other things that you need to?”

“Robert, do you agree with Tom’s assessment?”

“I am trying to be fair to this Government, in that on fiscal measures you would not expect to have a dialogue before a Budget, would you?”