Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Farming, food production, animal welfare, rural communities, flood defence, water quality
Recent PMQs Questions
View all 131PMQs 2026-09-09
I thank the Prime Minister for visiting my constituency during the recent wildfires in Stourbridge, and for meeting affected residents, emergency workers, volunteers and council staff. Will he join me...
PMQs 2026-09-09
I associate myself with the Prime Minister's opening remarks, not least about the 25th anniversary of the horrific terror attacks of 9/11. I welcome the Government finally banning imports from illegal...
PMQs 2026-09-02
In my constituency and across the country, we suffered devastating wildfires this summer. I am grateful to the Prime Minister for the action that he took, including the temporary ban on disposable bar...
PMQs 2026-09-02
The Prime Minister said yesterday that Brexit ushered in “a decade of low growth and stalled regeneration.” He is right. Our economy is stuck in this mess thanks to the Conservatives—and the leader of...
PMQs
A suppressed Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report has concluded that without transformational change, our food and water systems are at risk of catastrophic failure from 2030. Ano...
PMQs
In an earlier answer, the Prime Minister made it clear that he understands that global uncertainty makes national economic resilience ever more important, and that energy security and food security ar...
PMQs
Experts are warning that food prices will rise by 10% this year as farmers' costs soar. Trump's war has exposed how weak Britain's food security is, yet under the system brought in by the Conservative...
PMQs
The majority of imported food from non-EU countries has lower welfare standards than ours, affecting our markets. Will you commit to meeting me and my group to discuss supporting British farmers' prof...
PMQs
The surge in the global cost of oil and gas has the risk of pushing up food and energy prices, which is a real concern for my constituents in Bishop Auckland, just as we are turning a corner on the co...
PMQs
In January last year, Somerset received around 2,000 pothole reports. This January, there were nearly 7,000—a 250% increase. I recently stood on the Fosse Way in my constituency, where one resident ha...
Recent Ministerial Questions
View all 1662Climate Change Resilience
What discussions has the Minister had with DEFRA colleagues on strengthening British farms' resilience to extreme weather? The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit warns of a potentially worst UK harv...
Climate Change Resilience
Will the Minister consider requiring an environmental impact assessment for all solar developments on rural land? The vast size of the proposed solar farm highlighted the need for such assessments....
Cold Homes Plan
Twenty-five per cent of the properties in my constituency were built before 1900. They are very hard to retrofit; they are solid-wall properties. It is therefore important that there should be a bespo...
Peatland: Energy Infrastructure
Building on peatland releases carbon. Rules against building on peatland exist for development and farming. Will the Minister look at cases of siting wind farms and other energy projects on peatland t...
Peatland: Energy Infrastructure
I am concerned that constructing energy infrastructure on peatland releases carbon and undermines climate goals. Peatland stores 50% of the country's soil carbon—3 billion tonnes. Rules against buildi...
Topical Questions
Animals taken in by Margaret Green Animal Rescue cannot be rehomed during the delay before prosecution. Will the Minister look at how we can ensure these animals are rehomed and not delayed in these f...
Topical Questions 2026-09-15
Margaret Green Animal Rescue informed me that animals taken in during animal welfare prosecutions cannot be rehomed during the delay before prosecution. Will the Minister look at how we can ensure the...
Topical Questions 2026-09-14
Government buying standards for food still do not mandate local or British sourcing, leaving farmers in Glastonbury and Somerton locked out of supplying local schools. Will the Minister commit to stre...
Topical Questions 2026-09-10
The next national adaptation programme, NAP4, is not due until 2028, but the wildfires and droughts we saw this summer and the impending extreme El Niño show that we cannot wait that long. Will the Mi...
Topical Questions 2026-09-10
Returning to the emergency alerts, what assessment has the Secretary of State made of issuing alerts on a regional or county basis for important but more local emergencies, such as bluetongue outbreak...