Labour Votes Against Supporting Welsh Farmers

The Labour Government voted against the Welsh Conservative motion to support our Welsh farmers.

Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Samuel Kurtz MS said:

“Today, we gave the Welsh Government an opportunity to recognise that they are on the wrong path with the Sustainable Farming Scheme. Sadly, for farmers and rural Wales, they chose not to take that opportunity and I share the frustration felt by Wales’ rural communities and agricultural sector. The SFS has been soundly rejected by the industry and commands no majority of support in the Senedd. If the Minister is insistent that the consultation runs its course, then I see no way how this policy, with the necessary changes required to make it fit-for-purpose, could be anywhere near ready to go live by 2025.

A scheme that works for farmers, is a scheme that works for Wales. I suggest that, after today’s debate and the protest on the Senedd’s steps, the Welsh Government go back to the drawing board and design a scheme that works with, not against, our farmers.”

Then following Finance and Local Government Questions in the Senedd, Sam Rowlands MS, Shadow Minister for Local Government, said:  

“It’s a shame that the Minister would not discuss the role local government has to play in helping farmers to feed our nation.

“Council-owned farms are one of the key ways in which younger farmers get onto the farming ladder, and they are the future of farming. If the Sustainable Farming Scheme is not withdrawn, there is a real risk that the future generations of farmers who will feed the nation will find it much harder to join the sector.”

Yesterday saw the largest protest outside the Senedd and would have been much larger if farmers were not busy calving and lambing, but that didn’t appear to concern the Labour Government, apart from Rural Minister Lesley Griffiths saying this was a consultation and farmers must forward their comments and concerns by 7^th March.

But why were so many stupid and unworkable suggestions included in the consultation document in the first place. Surely some Labour people know a little about farming, but this consultation document shows I’m wrong on that thought.

I disliked hearing Labour comments saying – I thought farmers were busy working rather than protesting. Well if your livelihood as a farmer was under pressure what does Labour expect them to do? Can they not understand the worry and stress our farmers are under, when all they are trying to do is to provide for their own families and help feed our nation.

I loved one placard I saw yesterday: Ewes Not Yews……………….

Our farmers need to keep the pressure on as this Labour Government have to listen and come up with a Sustainable Farming Scheme that works for them.