Farming (Government Support)

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – in the House of Commons at 10:30 am on 15 December 2005.

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Photo of Edward Leigh Edward Leigh Chair, Public Accounts Committee, Chair, Public Accounts Committee 10:30, 15 December 2005

I was going to ask about the recommendation from the Public Accounts Committee in favour of a farm advisory service, but does the Minister agree that that would be a mere palliative for the crisis facing our smaller farmers? Is it not absurd that one absentee landlord in my constituency, who allows people no access to his land, receives £2 million a year from taxpayers, while other small family concerns that have farmed 100 or 200 acres in my area for generations are in dire poverty? What is he doing to argue the case for shifting subsidies away from production and acreage and towards incomes—for instance, through a working farmer tax credit?