Lord Plumb: asked Her Majesty's Government: How many farmers have applied for the farm waste exemptions; and how many field officers are being trained to police the operations.
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply. I declare an interest as a farmer who was reluctant to register for this farm waste scheme. Does he not agree that this directive is totally counterproductive, that it is more bureaucracy than ever, and that it would be better to recycle a lot of that waste rather than to remove it in any other way? Assuming that 60 per cent of waste on farms is...
Lord Plumb: asked Her Majesty's Government: Whether they will make mandatory the periodic worming of pet dogs in order to tackle the rise in liver damage to sheep attributed to more people with dogs visiting the countryside.
Lord Plumb: My Lords, it is a great privilege to have served on EU Sub-Committee D over the past two years under the chairmanship of my noble friend Lord Renton of Mount Harry. I almost flinched when he said earlier that he had to remind some members of his committee on occasion that we were an EU committee and not just dealing with UK affairs. If I am a guilty party in that respect, I admit that it is...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I declare an interest as chancellor of Coventry University. Many noble Lords will remember that, before it received university status, it was a famous polytechnic college that provided skilled workers for some of the finest engineering works in the country, both in wartime and after. It then received university status and now has some 18,000 students. It has been built up over time...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, it is my particular pleasure and privilege to welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Ford, of Cunninghame in North Ayrshire, and to thank her for making the fourth maiden speech today. I can safely say on behalf of your Lordships that all have passed the test with flying colours and, in the case of the contribution just made by the noble Baroness, with great aplomb. It is always a...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I am sure that the Minister has done everything possible to bring some order out of chaos, but does he realise that the 10 schemes listed in the National Audit Office report could be multiplied by more than 1,000 for people who have suffered stress and loss of revenue? Loss of revenue is one thing, but the loss of trust and confidence, both in the Government and in the department,...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I, too, thank my noble friend Lord Vinson for initiating the debate on the state of British agriculture. It is a timely opportunity to review the farming industry's position. I very much welcome the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, to his place on the Front Bench representing agriculture. For both of us this is like recycling; we have been eyeball to eyeball in the past—I was wearing a...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, in declaring my interests as a livestock farmer, president of the National Sheep Association and a member of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, as well as my involvement with various breed societies, I recognise the need for modernising the law and, in principle, I therefore join many of your Lordships in supporting the Bill. In his opening remarks, the Minister made the point very...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, first, I regret that I was not here on Monday to hear the repeat of the Statement made by the Secretary of State in the other House. We have had a few days to reflect on that Statement and to express our concern about the further delay that we now anticipate. I am very pleased to be able to support my noble friend Lord King for introducing this debate about the RPA and the single...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, it is a great privilege to be part of what I believe to be a very cohesive team in Sub-Committee D under the very able chairmanship of my noble friend Lord Renton of Mount Harry. We were well served, as he said in his opening remarks, by our Clerk, a secretary and our specialist adviser to the inquiry on the sugar regime, Professor Sir John Marsh, who is regarded as one of the most...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I support my noble friend Lord Peel in everything that he has said and I congratulate him on taking the initiative on this subject. I hope that, in calling for action, we really do get action on what is, in the countryside, an important and difficult problem. Recently, I was encouraged to note in a Midland newspaper—we have a lot of grey squirrels in the Midlands—a report saying...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, we have had a good and full explanation of this matter. Once we talk about rights, however—remembering what the Minister said earlier about my noble friend Lord Inglewood's contribution—we are taking the long view and therefore have to get this right. There are three quite important reasons why I am concerned. First, the Bill, as named in this proposal, could discriminate...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister. The reassurance is most acceptable.
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I join my noble friend Lord Selborne and others who have said how much they welcome the contribution made in this debate by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Exeter. It was indeed a contribution which came from the heart and an understanding of the problems we face. We are very fortunate in your Lordship's House to have such contributions from the bishops. I remember a while...
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I do not see the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, in his place, so I assume that I follow the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers.
Lord Plumb: My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness. It is always a pleasure to follow the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers. We all sit up and listen when he speaks, and indeed he speaks with a feeling that many people may have in the country—particularly with regard to the form-filling business. It gets to a stage when it becomes nothing short of ridiculous. It is a privilege, as other noble Lords have said, to...
Lord Plumb: asked Her Majesty's Government: What training people receive who are employed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to answer questions which farmers raise on their helpline.
Lord Plumb: asked Her Majesty's Government: What is the cost of the helpline provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to answer questions raised by farmers.
Lord Plumb: My Lords, the Minister has told us on so many occasions that this whole question is under review. The Krebs trials go on and on. Does he not accept that this whole business is now completely out of hand? We were told by vets only yesterday that 30 per cent of badgers are believed to be carrying TB. That is spreading far and wide right through the country, especially the south-west. There are...