Sustainable Livestock Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 11:54 am on 12 November 2010.

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Photo of Simon Hart Simon Hart Conservative, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire 11:54, 12 November 2010

Yes, I do agree. That is perfectly reasonable and the evidence clearly shows that nobody in agricultural food production would disagree. Indeed, people in the industry have been making such points for longer than the hon. Lady or I have. This is all about fairness, to use a word that is also becoming rather fashionable. On that point, our countryside and industry are the envy of Europe not because of politicians but despite them. My hon. Friend the Member for Bury North, who has just left his place, accurately raised that issue in his intervention. We have to be careful that when we pass legislation that affects rural Britain, particularly agriculture, we do not create a more complicated and therefore less competitive agriculture industry, thereby failing to achieve the benefits that the promoters of the Bill have quite reasonably set out to achieve.