Financial Support for the Agricultural Industry

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 18 September 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:18, 18 September 2018

Well, the farming budget is in effect ring-fenced, so money can't be taken out of farming subsidies and put elsewhere anyway. The £260 million that comes into farming subsidies in Wales is not spent anywhere else, it has to be spent on farming, and, to my mind, that would be a good system for the future. I don't think farmers want to find themselves in a situation where they're competing with education and health for funding. They all told me that, anyway. Secondly, the last thing we want is to be funded on the basis of Barnett when it comes to farming. That would be an enormous cut in funding as far as Wales is concerned. So, to brush to one side the issue of the money as if it was a minor inconvenience is simply wrong, because we know that without the money there is no money for farming, there is no money for farming subsidies, and the promise that was made is breached straight away. There is a consultation, of course, that is taking place. We'll take cognisance of what is said in that consultation, but the bottom line is to look at ways of making Welsh farming more sustainable in the future, and that is something that we will always strive to do.