§ Mr. Andrew Roweasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his policy on the proposals made in the report "How to Help Farmers and Keep England Beautiful", published by the Council for the Protection of Rural England and the Council for National Parks.
§ Mrs. FennerI was interested to see this report, which contains a series of proposals as to how the different claims of agriculture and conservation can be reconciled in the countryside. The report urges a massive redirection of funds from agriculture to conservation.
The European Commission's current socio-structural proposals might provide some encouragement for a shift towards more extensive farming methods. However, the proposals in this report would go so much further that I do not consider that they would be negotiable in Brussels.