5. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Preparing the rural economy and fisheries sector for a 'no deal' Brexit

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:31 pm on 1 October 2019.

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Photo of Jenny Rathbone Jenny Rathbone Labour 4:31, 1 October 2019

Thank you, Minister, for your statement, which paints rather a grim picture. I just wanted to pick up on a couple of points. You say that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has assured you there are no significant risks to the supply of electricity, gas or fuels. I wonder if I could probe that a bit further and ask on which basis are they giving that assurance. What evidence are they providing? What proportion of UK energy needs are currently imported from Europe—most relevantly, of course, in November and December, which are the two months immediately after Halloween? Clearly, we need to be prepared for the possible rationing, I suppose, of energy, if we can't get gas supplies from Europe, which I know in the past we've depended on.

Equally, on the food issue, it's good to hear the supermarkets are reassuring us that they are going to continue to supply all their outlets. You say there may be some reduction in the choice of foods available, particularly EU-derived fresh fruit and vegetables, and that's rather patently obvious, if we have a disrupted passage of materials from our ports. I just wondered what sort of import substitution plans the Government could have, because, unfortunately, this so-called 'clean break', otherwise known as a catastrophe, is likely to go on for longer than just a couple of months. So, I wonder what advice you're giving to farmers and families to plant winter vegetables, as a precaution, to guard against this potential loss of fresh fruit and vegetables. I appreciate that this is not the right time of year to be rushing into this, but something is better than nothing. Thank you.