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(1) the payment out of money provided by Parliament of—
(a) any sums payable by way of state pension credit;
(b) any expenditure incurred by the Secretary of State or other government department under or by virtue of the Act; and
(c) any increase attributable to the Act in the sums payable out of money so provided under any other Act; and
(2) the payment into the Consolidated Fund of any increase attributable to the Act in the sums which under any other Act are payable into that Fund.—[Mr. Kemp.]
WELSH GRAND COMMITTEE
- That—
(1) the matter of the Budget Statement and its implications for Wales, being a matter relating exclusively to Wales, be referred to the Welsh Grand Committee for its consideration;
(2) the Committee shall meet on Wednesday 24th April at half-past Ten o'clock and between Four o'clock and Six o'clock at Westminster to take questions under Standing Order No. 103 (Welsh Grand Committee (questions for oral answer)), and to consider the Budget Statement and its implications for Wales, under Standing Order No. 107 (Welsh Grand Committee (matters relating exclusively to Wales)).—[Mr. Kemp.]
PETITIONS
Fireworks
10.29 pm
Dr. Howard Stoate (Dartford): I have pleasure in presenting a petition signed by more than 2,000 residents of north Kent, most of them pet owners, expressing concern about the recent increase in private firework displays throughout the year. They feel that the suffering that their animals are forced to endure from night after night of fireworks is wholly unacceptable and unnecessary and want legislation to be introduced as soon as possible to restrict the sale of fireworks to the general public to traditional festivals such as 5 November, new year's eve and Diwali.
- The Humble Petition of the residents of North Kent sheweth
That the significant recent increase in private firework displays throughout the calendar year is causing considerable unnecessary distress to domestic animals and livestock and undue nuisance to residents.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House will take such measures as lie within its power to restrict the use of fireworks by the general public to New Year's Eve, religious festivals during which fireworks are traditionally used, such as Diwali, and the 14-day period around 5 November, and further request that the sale of fireworks by retail outlets be restricted to the same 14-day period around 5 November and religious festivals and to the five-day period up to and including New Year's Eve.
And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Bolton Magistrates Court
10.32 pm
Mr. David Crausby (Bolton, North-East): I present a petition organised by my local newspaper the Bolton Evening News, and supported by my hon. Friends the Members for Bolton, South-East (Dr. Iddon) and for Bolton, West (Ruth Kelly) and myself.
- The petition of residents of Bolton declares
That they deplore the recommendation of the Greater Manchester Magistrates Court Committee to close Bolton Magistrates Court; that closing the court would be a travesty of justice and prevent them from gaining full access to the law.
- The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Lord Chancellor to intervene on the Petitioners' behalf and block the planned closure of Bolton Magistrates Court.
Gerard Morgan
10.33 pm
Mr. David Cameron (Witney): I present a petition with 342 signatures on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan of 53 Queens road in Carterton.
- The Petition of Mr. and Mrs. L. S. Morgan
Declares that on 14 December their son Gerard Morgan was convicted of rape at Oxford Crown court; that he was subsequently sentenced to four years' imprisonment; and that he has maintained throughout that he is innocent of the crime for which he has been convicted.
The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons take note of the fact that Gerard Morgan believes that he has been convicted of a crime which he did not commit.
And the Petitioners remain, etc.
Farming (Somerset)
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Kemp.]
10.34 pm
Mr. Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater): I am delighted to have secured this debate and even more delighted that four Somerset Members are here and that the fifth has sent his apologies—he could not make it.
Why the need for this debate? Last year farming almost stopped in Somerset. It was the year of foot and mouth, and it was a complete and utter disaster. Across Somerset, the whole fabric of rural life fell apart. Cattle could not be moved, tourists could not come to the area and the markets could not open. Nothing happened. Where are we going now?
Just before I came here to speak, I picked up a copy of the latest "Working for the Essentials of Life", which contains some interesting paragraphs, one of which states:
- "Our task is now to carry forward those ideas in partnership with everyone who has a stake in farming and the food industries to ensure that English food and farming succeed. Together, we will define a lasting strategy".
- "The EU must determine its own negotiating stance by 2003",
Somerset has an enormous amount to be proud of there is obviously our cider, and we make our own jam and we have our own apples and meat, including lamb. We have an enormous breadth of goods, but we cannot put brand awareness properly across because our co-operatives are not large enough. I ask the Minister whether the European Union co-operative money can now be made available to create co-operatives to develop brand awareness across Somerset, the United Kingdom and the world. As we have a winner, let us try to push it.
I want to talk about some of the issues facing farming that are causing problems for farmers, now and in future. The first is the tractor vibration directive. People may ask what on earth is a tractor vibration directive, but it states that tractors cannot be driven for more than seven hours because the vibration may cause damage to people's fingers. I checked with the National Farmers Union, which is also an insurance company, and it has not encountered that problem in 25 years. I wonder how people on Exmoor and the levels and throughout Somerset will deal with the harvest, seed time and lambing.
I was told that there is no way around the problem because of a lack of staff. Will farmers seriously be told to put tachographs into their tractors? Will they be told that they have to get off their tractors after seven hours? Who will police the directive? Moreover, why should vibration be a problem with new tractors? Before the directive becomes a law in the eyes of the British and something to be ignored in the eyes of the French, I urge the Minister to stop it as quickly as possible. If it reaches the statute book, I can see nothing but trouble from start to finish, as well as challenges from farmers and the NFU.
The second issue, which has affected Somerset massively, is the collapse in the price of organic milk. Organic produce was the great hope for the future. After two years, farmers could take organic produce to the heights of farming. They would receive a premium for their goods, enjoy a continuity of supply and be guaranteed a good income. They knew that they had a saleable asset at the end of the day. What has happened? Milk prices are now 3p below the national average. People cannot continue to farm with those prices; they certainly cannot do so as organic producers.
Yeo Valley, which has sites in all Somerset constituencies, is the biggest producer of organic yoghurt, milk and cream. It is now buying milk at a price that suits it, but which is crucifying the industry. I am always happy to support the Soil Association, but purists in a cut-throat market will find that their throats are cut by the others involved. The supermarkets are now importing an immense amount of supposedly organic goods, and the Soil Association says, "That's fine; we'll okay it." Even though the produce is not organic in the eyes of the Soil Association in the United Kingdom, it is organic outside it. If we go down that line, we could find that the organic industry grinds to a halt because we are determined to remains purists and not to allow ourselves to keep pace with the French, Germans and others, who do certainly do not do as we do.
I want to move on to a somewhat contentious issue—badgers. Everyone understands why the Krebs testing had to stop because of foot and mouth disease. I am delighted to see the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Burnett) because a lot of that testing took place in his constituency, and it was at the forefront of helping us to understand whether badgers carry tuberculosis. We do not know whether they do, and unless the testing starts again, the problem will be that people will start to take the law into their own hands, as has happened before. We want to prevent that from happening again.
The problem is that we know that something carries TB, but we do not know what it is. Regardless of what some people may say, if the testing is begun again, farmers will be given the hope that a resolution will be found to the problem.
We know that there is a major problem when the largest farms on Exmoor are shut down because of tuberculosis and cannot move their cattle. Tuberculosis is travelling in some form and I urge the Minister to consider that problem carefully. Unless he does that, the future on the levels, Exmoor and throughout Somerset could be bleak indeed. We know what it is like not to be able to move our cattle—nearly 3,500 cattle were stuck on Exmoor. The fact that we could not get the cattle off the land in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Flook) caused enormous damage to the welfare of many animals. I urge the Minister to reinstate testing.
Flooding affects all our constituencies in Somerset. None of us is in any doubt that last year was a disaster for farming in the county. Not only did we suffer the problem of foot and mouth but we lost a huge amount of land because of flooding. The Tone and the Parret burst their banks and an enormous amount of land disappeared under water.
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