Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:33 pm on 27 April 2022.
Thank you, Minister. It's not purely anecdotal, there are given clear examples of these businesses, predominantly London-based businesses, buying Welsh agricultural land for green-washing afforestation, which does play into the hands of the need for increasing our food security here. And yesterday, your colleague the First Minister made some interesting comments about the forthcoming agriculture Bill, particularly around its content and your future ambitions for this important industry.
We were pleased on these benches that the further delay to the agriculture Bill is down to you and your team looking at it again, given the horrific conflict in Ukraine and its impact on food security. However, on multiple occasions, you've consistently told these benches that the production of food is not a public good, because, as you've said, food is a marketable commodity, and therefore, by Welsh Government standards, falls outside the remit of this important classification. Can you help me better understand, then, Minister, that if this is the policy of the Welsh Government, to not support something with a marketable value, then why do early suggestions show that the agriculture Bill will see Welsh Government support carbon sequestration despite there being a fast-growing carbon capture market? Doesn't this fly in the face of the 'public money for public goods' mantra of this Labour Government?