I'd like to say a few words now about the Welsh Government's ongoing consultation, 'Brexit and our land'. Now, the last time the Government considered major changes to farm payments in Wales, they assessed how much each business, each sector, each county in Wales would lose or gain through very comprehensive modelling before making any key decisions. Now, these latest proposed changes are some of the biggest changes that we've seen, certainly in recent years, if not probably in this generation. So, maybe the Cabinet Secretary could tell us what assessments have been made this time of how much Anglesey, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire might gain or lose, the impact it might have on jobs in those and other counties, before pursuing further this never before tried policy, because I'm not aware that that work has been done.

We know as well that Scotland is sticking with the basic payment for their farmers. Northern Ireland is likely to do the same as well and farmers throughout the European Union, as well, will receive it. In fact, because of the financial consequences to the EU of Brexit, it seems that their pillar 2 funds will be cut and that their direct payments will be ring-fenced, so, you know, EU farmers will probably be proportionately better off because of Brexit. But the Welsh Government, of course, is going the other way and proposing to do away with basic payments. The Scottish Government's position paper, if I recall, is called, 'Stability and Simplicity'. Well, somebody suggested to me that maybe the Welsh Government proposals should be called 'instability and complexity'. You're simply following, like the proverbial sheep, the policy of Michael Gove and the Tories in England, and I really have to question the integrity of your consultation process here. I know you've claimed that what the Farmers Union of Wales have been saying are myths—well, they're not; they're valid concerns. There may be a difference of opinion, but they are valid concerns from key stakeholders. Is it right that your letter to farmers, half way through a public consultation—? Is it right that you, as a Cabinet Secretary, intervene to influence people's opinions and to dismiss what I believe are valid concerns from that key stakeholder? You say you want to hear people's views, but then you write and it seems to me that you're not willing to hear people's views unless they agree with you. And it was very telling, I have to say, that, in the statement that accompanied your open letter to farmers in Wales, you say, and I quote:

'Our new Land Management Programme will consist of two new large flexible schemes'.

It 'will consist of'. So, has the decision already been made? I thought we were in mid consultation. In fact, your amendment reflects that very same language as well. So, with your unprecedented intervention and the kind of language that we're seeing—I mean, I'm not sure whether we're in judicial review territory. That's not for me to say; that's for others to consider. But I would, Cabinet Secretary, urge you to put the brakes on your proposals, follow the example of Scotland, of Northern Ireland and the rest of the EU in offering Welsh farmers stability. At this most challenging time in our recent history, let's give our farmers at least an element of certainty of funding and let's give them at least a level playing field.