Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I strongly support this amendment. Indeed, I strongly support the fracking industry. We need to pursue all possible energy options at a time of high-energy costs and uncertain energy sources. The crisis in Ukraine is perhaps a sharp reminder of Europe's unwise overreliance on Russian gas. Furthermore, when visiting Brussels to investigate EU energy policy it was made clear to us on...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, in supporting my noble friend Lord Oxburgh I realise that we are swimming against an overwhelming political current here. However, it is sometimes the duty of Cross-Benchers to point out the political follies of some of the main parties in this House. It is clear to me from having spoken to many Members of this House—including some very important Members, many of whom are here...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I declare an interest for the purposes of Report, in that I am a farmer with abstraction licences on my farm. I support Amendments 59 and 60, which ensure that de-averaging on the basis of geographic location is outlawed in the Bill. The delivery of water in a civilised, developed country should be a universal right. That is not to say that it comes free for anyone, but that all the...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I believe this to be a very important amendment, and I am very glad to follow the noble Lord, Lord Phillips. As some noble Lords will know, I spend some of my time visiting African developing countries with a view to promoting agriculture, and smallholder agriculture in particular, as a tool for development. While I am there, often on parliamentary visits, I meet parliamentarians in...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, it seems strange to be talking about possible water shortages and abstraction reform in one of the wettest Januarys since records began. I remind noble Lords that January is named after the Roman double-headed god, Janus. If one head is pointing to the climate change extreme of floods, the other is undoubtedly pointing to drought. I am not certain that either this group of...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, as this is the first time I have intervened in Committee, I declare an interest as a farmer with abstraction licences. Even though I come from Somerset, my farmland is not yet flooded. However, if the current rains continue, it is unlikely that I will be able to say that on Report. I want to back up the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, who said that she could not understand why we...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I declare an interest as a farmer in possession of two abstraction licences. Also, not to be totally outdone by the Minister, I must own to having several fields that frequently lie under water, particularly this month. On the whole, I think that this is a good Bill which is much needed to ensure that our watercourses, our water supplies, our water environment and our water...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, hotfoot from Ethiopia, I rise to support this amendment. Unlike the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, I believe that this is a fallback amendment which cannot in any way harm either the general thrust or the detail of the Government’s policy, as spelled out in the Bill. As I said on Report, and the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, has made amply clear this afternoon, the Secretary of State...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I support all the amendments in this group, as well as the amendments to which I have put my name. Last week we had our debate on the need to open up all sectors of the electricity industry to more competition. We on our side of the amendment were surprised at the reluctance of the Government to acquiesce enthusiastically to what we were proposing. We were even more surprised when...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I support the amendment. I, too, served on Sub-Committee D and this was a major part of the message in our report No Country is an Energy Island—a very apt name. The joy of a pan-European grid—or even an intercontinental grid, because the geothermal springs of Iceland could bring electricity down to the industrial heartlands of the UK—and interconnection would be to allow...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I hesitate to speak to the amendment because I am not against it and I sympathise with the intentions of the noble Lords who are proposing it, particularly if it affected the price of construction timber and made housing more expensive, which would not be good. However, I advocate a bit of caution. I have recently come across a company which is trying to build four medium-sized...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, as this is my first intervention on Report, I must declare an interest as a farmer with a renewable scheme on my land. Most of what needs to be said in favour of these amendments concerning competition has already been said and as a co-signatory I very much to support them. However, I want to underline the fundamental point involved. It has become obvious to anyone reading...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I must first declare an interest as a farmer and landowner with family and trustee interests in small renewable energy schemes. Electricity is now as vital a part of modern human life as air, water or food. It is only a mild exaggeration to say that we cannot survive without it. So much depends on it: from the pumped water we drink and the growing and processing of the food we eat,...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, as part of the IDA17 negotiations, they will encourage the World Bank to raise the issue of nutrition in discussions with governments, for example in the Country Partnership Strategies, so that enhanced food security and nutrition are integrated alongside traditional economic indicators such as growth of gross domestic product.
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I am aware that these debates are often used by Members of this House to get some deadly serious issues off their chests, and I am no exception. However, I am also aware that an endless string of deadly serious chest-clearing issues is pretty deadly. In my intervention, which is addressed to our Department for International Development, I would like to start with a poem—in fact...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I also support the principle behind the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Marlesford, which was ably moved by the noble Lord, Lord Cavendish. Again, as in Committee on this Bill, I come from an economic perspective. As I said then, the whole economy of our national park areas comes from the beauty of their landscapes, which we must try to preserve at all costs. Their...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, first, I declare an interest as a farmer. We have all received much evidence, both for and against, on this amendment. It seemed right to consider all the evidence and facts afresh, including my own knowledge of the industry, and to re-examine the case for and against abolition. I think everyone acknowledges that agriculture is very different from 60 to 65 years ago when the current...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: Surely that is the whole point of this clause-to make sure that this problem is addressed by the planning system so that it does not become the statutory show-stopper that it currently is. The noble Lord talked about looking at this from two separate points of view. We are looking at it from that point of view; that is the whole point of the clause.
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, the previous two speakers seem to have included the stand part debate in this group of amendments, so if the Committee will permit it, I will do the same. I speak on the stand part Motion from the point of view of a planning applicant. First, I am a firm believer in the importance of open spaces for the health and happiness of our nation and our communities. Our love of and need for...
Lord Cameron of Dillington: My Lords, I come to this clause and this group of amendments entirely from an economic perspective. I am very much in favour of greater economic growth for our countryside because, frankly, all too often our rural deprivation is ignored, and I am as keen as anyone that entrepreneurs and businesses should be given all the help they need to thrive throughout rural England. It goes without...
