Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:07 pm on 26 May 2021.
I'd like to ask for an urgent statement on any potential free trade deal with Australia. We heard the news over the weekend that the UK Conservative Government is turning its back on rural Wales and turning its back on the agricultural industry. We've heard from both farming unions about the potential detrimental effect on farming across the whole of our country on the basis of a free trade deal that will benefit the Tories' funders in the City of London and will sacrifice Welsh agriculture to pay for that. It's important for the future not only of upland Wales, not only of rural Wales, but of our own national identity that we are able to debate and discuss these matters in this Parliament and to ensure that this Parliament's voices are heard—that we want to support our farmers and we want to support our sheep industry. even if the Conservative Government is turning its back on them, and we do need an urgent statement on that, or an opportunity to debate these matters.
I'd like to ask also for a statement on off-roading and its impact on communities in Wales. Members and the Minister may have seen the reports on the BBC yesterday from Mynydd Carn-y-Cefn in Ebbw Vale, where graziers have been debating and discussing how off-roading is affecting them, affecting our local environment in Blaenau Gwent, but also is having a real effect on the communities of the borough as well. This is something that has been going on for some years, and off-roaders, in breaking down fences, in destroying our environment, are having a real impact on our borough and on the environment of the Heads of the Valleys. But I recognise it's also an issue elsewhere in the country. I hope that the Welsh Government will be able to make a statement on this and bring different agencies together in order to address this issue.