It is clear from this debate and from earlier stages of our proceedings that the Bill meets with general approval from all those who know and understand the problems of the land and, particularly, the problems of upland farming. The hon. Member for Morecambe and Lonsdale (Sir I. Fraser) made some criticism, saying that this action might have been taken before. We should all have liked to see it taken before, but I would draw the attention of hon. Members to the fact that we have had various crises in recent years, and on several occasions—in 1947, and again in the dollar crisis of 1949—we had to undertake various economies in capital expenditure. The Government undertook those economies and the cry of the Opposition in those days was that they were not enough. They wanted more economies. I can quite well understand why we have not had a Measure of this kind earlier.

It is true that we could have spent money in this way instead of spending it on developments in the colonial territories, as, for instance, on the groundnut scheme. I am no defender of the way in which the groundnut scheme was carried out, but I suggest that it is not right to argue that we should neglect, or should not pay too much attention to, colonial development. It all has to take its place. I am glad that there is both colonial development and home development; it is difficult to draw the line between the two.

I am pleased that we now have a comprehensive Measure. Of course, it will not be easy to differentiate between the types of land concerned. The Bill draws the line of limitation between those areas of land which will be eligible for assistance and those which will not. Heath-land is included within the Bill. I can conceive that there may be areas of land in my Constituency, in the Forest of Dean, which many people will think ought to be brought within the Bill, and I am not clear whether they will be within the Bill or not. It appears that eligibility will have something to do with proximity to hills and mountains. There is land in the Forest of Dean which rises to nearly 1,000 feet and which is also heath, but I cannot say whether the Bill will apply to it.

There will certainly be marginal cases, but I am sure the Bill will work out for the best in the long run. Nor do I worry about any particular assistance which may be given under the Bill towards the production of milk in the uplands. A safeguard is provided in that connection in Clause 1 (3, a), which defines types of assistance. Moreover, the Minister told us at a previous stage of the Bill that money will not be given to farmers who apply to improve their buildings for dairy purposes—who apply to construct new milking sheds, and so on.

Money will be provided for other purposes. If it becomes profitable for the lowland farmer to produce beef, and if it becomes more profitable for the upland farmer to rear the stock which can go into the lowlands in order to provide beef, obviously the upland farmer will not go in for milk production. One of the troubles during the inter-war years was that beef was unsaleable at any figure that was reasonable. Milk was in a better position, and upland farmers took to milk through sheer desperation. The position will solve itself by making cattle a better proposition than it has been, because already there is a danger of surplus milk supplies, as we are right up to the target for next year.