"The hon. Lady is making a powerful case, but I remind her that when the EU forced set-aside upon us, all that did was create a weed bank. It did not improve the fertility of our soil. I am from north of the border, where traditional rotations are still very …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"The hon. Lady is making a powerful point. It was interesting that she brought up the question of single farm payment. As I have declared, I am a recipient of that and I am aware of the cross compliance rules. Does she not take some comfort from the fact that …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"I rise to speak in support of the amendments in my name, but for the sake of time I will not go over the points already made by my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow.
I have stated on the record my belief that the Bill should address food and …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q This is a question to Mr Cross regarding electronic identification traceability, with which we are quite familiar in Scotland. ScotEID, which is based in my constituency, already covers cattle, sheep and pigs. The recent BSE case was very quickly closed down, and the cohorts were identified. It is …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q As a supplementary to that, this is all about public money for public goods. Is animal health arguably a public good? Not only would traceability be important, in terms of trade, but traceability can prevent the catastrophes we have had with foot and mouth and BSE in the …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q I declare an interest: I am a conventional farmer and an organic farmer, and I own fresh produce factories. I have been involved in farming for donkeys’ years.
Part 6 of the Bill is about fairness in the supply chain. Several retailers have moved to central direct buying, …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q Just to follow up on that point, with the likes of Amazon and eBay, or maybe even some internet or app-based system we cannot see yet—I remember suggesting it years ago to supermarkets, and they were furious, because they owned retail sites and did not want to hear …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q Coming back to the part 1 financial assistance powers, they largely focus on the environment, but clauses 2, 3 and 4 go on to mention productivity. Is there enough in the Bill not to cause tension between environmental payments and food production? How do we avoid that? How …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q Professor Marsden, you mentioned security and stability and an amendment to the Bill. How do you avoid that tension? How do we achieve that?
Professor Marsden: One suggestion in my amendment was that, right at the start, you have interlinked and interlocking objectives: promoting farming and food systems …..." Colin Clark - View Speech
"Q In your submission, NFU Scotland said that the inclusion of a schedule bespoke for Scotland’s agricultural policy needs is important. Would a schedule in any way limit Scottish policy?
Jonnie Hall: No; if the schedule was written in the right way it would be about enabling and it …..." Colin Clark - View Speech