Former MP for Sudbury and Woodbridge
East Anglia is variously defined. I happen to come from Suffolk, so most of my remarks will concern the county of Suffolk, but they also apply to Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Minister on what he said about the agricultural base, its prosperity and importance to East Anglia. However, it is important to impress upon him, or through him the Secretary of State,...
My constituency is in Suffolk, and the Suffolk county National Farmers Union claims—I believe correctly—that Suffolk is the second largest county for pig production in England. Therefore, while declaring that interest, I feel that it also entitles me to make a number of comments both on the background to the Bill and on the Bill itself. I first raised this disease five or six years ago...
What about proportional representation for pigs?
The reference to "any other person" relates to disruption payments. Will my right hon. Friend clarify the powers of the Ministry vis-a-vis "any other person" and the discretion available to that person?
I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, but I am still not clear how the Minister intends to give instructions to a limited company. Does he intend to be represented on the board or will the articles of association be drawn in such a way that the company may not be eligible for registration?
I am delighted to have caught your eye, Mr Speaker, first because it gives me the opportunity to congratulate the Secretary of State on his new appointment, and, secondly, because it is a chance for a voice to be heard from a different part of the country—East Anglia, and Suffolk in particular. Two themes or chords that have emerged from the debate can be labelled "unfairness" and...
I am very grateful to my right hon. Friend for that intervention, although I riposte that we have been going through a cycle of capital disposals that is rapidly diminishing, so perhaps the significance of the point should be reassessed. The 50 per cent. penalty on smaller receipts must be carefully assessed. On another topic, the youth training scheme is to be a cornerstone of the...
Will my right hon. Friend pursue that point in terms of the relationship between the 4 per cent. higher target, which is a cash figure, and the grant-related expenditure level?
