8. Statement by the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd: The Agriculture (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:36 pm on 27 September 2022.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 5:36, 27 September 2022

So, I haven't seen the detail of the announcement that came from DEFRA yesterday. I can't say I was surprised. Obviously, there has been a new Secretary of State; I think we can see a change in direction also with the Liz Truss Government. I think it's fair to say—I don't think I'm being unfair here—that they were the first out of the trap, really, with their ELMs and they were having some difficulty bringing them forward. So, I hear what environmental organisations are saying, and anything that takes away or detracts from the nature and climate emergencies that we're all facing is obviously an area of concern.

I do look forward to having a conversation. This legislation is Wales specific, made in Wales, bespoke for Wales and right for us. What England do is what England do, but of course I take a keen interest in what England are doing, and you know that we met regularly as four agricultural Ministers, and we've all shared the legislation we were bringing forward following our leaving the European Union. And so it does concern me, what I'm reading, but as I said I haven't the detail. Unfortunately, I've tried very hard to meet the new Secretary of State, but we've had a couple of cancelled meetings. But we do have a quadrilateral coming up next month and I look forward to hearing a little bit more detail around that.

Could I just say as well that I didn't answer Mabon—I knew I'd missed something out—on food security and food affordability? Of course, those two things—. Food security is writ large in the Bill and it's an area where we need to, again, as Huw Irranca-Davies was saying, work at a UK level on food security because it's such an integrated system. People are worried about food security, and I hope that this will reassure them, and of course affordability now, with the cost-of-living crisis. Again, going back to DEFRA, there was a bit of shrugging of the shoulders around the price of food going up. Why shouldn't farmers get the correct price for their food? And it was felt that maybe we should be looking at cheaper food. Well, for me, that's not the issue. I appreciate that people are going to the supermarket and looking for cheaper food because we're in a cost-of-living crisis, but for me it's really important that farmers get a fair price because, of course, they've got mortgages and they need to buy food and other things for their families too. So, I think, on food security, we've taken our time around food security in this, because again going back to the challenges that we face, the different challenges, it has brought food security right to the fore.