HC Deb 16 February 2000 vol 344 cc939-40
9. Mr. Michael Fabricant (Lichfield)

When he will next meet the First Secretary to discuss the state of agriculture in Wales. [108917]

The Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Paul Murphy)

I meet the First Secretary on a weekly basis and we discuss a wide range of issues, including Welsh agriculture.

Mr. Fabricant

It is all very well for the Secretary of State to tell my hon. Friends the Members for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) and for North Shropshire (Mr. Paterson) that he knows all about the problems that Welsh farmers face. The dairy and livestock industry in Wales—[Interruption.] Labour Members obviously do not care a damn about them. Those industries have experienced a drop in income of more than 40 per cent., pig farming is almost on the point of collapse and in Ceredigion, where more than 21 per cent. of the population work in farming, people have shown what they think of the Labour Government. When will the Secretary of State stop saying that he knows about the problems and do something?

Mr. Murphy

I live in, and represent, a Welsh constituency, and all of us who represent Welsh constituencies have a great interest in the fanning industry and in its success. I have just told the House of the various measures that my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture has taken. Those measures apply in Wales and, in addition, the National Assembly is doing a great deal to help the farming industry.