Emma Reynolds MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I could not agree more. We have to look at the agrifood sector overall. It is a huge part of our economy, employing 4.1 million people, and its gross value added is equivalent to the automotive sector. My hon. Friend is right that there has been a tendency to underestimate the value of farming. We have to look at it in the wider agrifood ecosystem and in the context of the GVA that the sector brings to the economy.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  We have announced additional funding for the farming innovation programme, bringing total innovation funding to £123 million. This is to back practical technology, including robotics, soil health and water management. It is about the shift to sustainable farming practices.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I recently visited the Balmoral agricultural show with members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, and the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee was there too. We had a good old chinwag. I also met Minister Muir and the Ulster Farmers’ Union. We are engaging closely with stakeholders in Northern Ireland. We have close relationships with all the devolved Administrations and are already engaging with them about our road map, but as the hon. Gentleman says, the road map is for England.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend. The focus of the road map is on reducing the burden of regulation and making sure that we have a simpler system, which is something Baroness Batters asked us to do. As a Co-operative party member, I am delighted that we have references in the road map to the increased role of co-operatives. In other countries—I know the EFRA Committee was recently in New Zealand, which sounds like a nice trip—co-operatives play an even stronger role than they do here. I want to see what more we can do as a Government to boost the role of mutuals and co-operatives in agriculture.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I will come to fertiliser, but let me first say to the right hon. Gentleman that we are cutting red diesel duty by a third, bringing it to the lowest level in more than 20 years. We are taking measures to help farmers with the increased costs of energy and fuel— [ Interruption. ] Gosh, there is a wall of sound here, such is the excitement on the Opposition Benches. We have asked the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to look at more frequent official fertiliser price reporting. We are also doing all that we can to help farmers move away from such high use of fertilisers to more efficient use, along with a longer-term plan to change fertilisers so that British farming can make use of more innovative practices.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  The farming road map is a plan for the whole of England. Obviously, each different sector of farming faces different challenges. I was glad to visit a dairy farm in my own constituency on Open Farm day—Lacey’s farm. I thank Will Lacey for showing me and my two young boys around. The road map is about helping farmers across England, including in the south-west.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  It is kind of the hon. Lady to think that I am so powerful that I could have a hand in that. One person in the House wants me sacked, but I am glad that she thinks I have that power. I do not have that power, but I do want to see the summit take place. I agree that it is really important to reduce the costs and the bureaucracy that we were left by the last Government.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  We do want to see more British food in our institutions. As I said in response to a previous question, we are establishing a baseline—which was not established under the hon. Gentleman’s Government or ever before—to see what percentage of public sector contracts are going to British producers. That is the first step. May I also say that I am a big fan of the hon. Gentleman’s constituency? I spend some time there because my parents live in his patch.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I hope to give the hon. Gentleman some brief answers, but I would be very happy to have a discussion with him after the debate, because he has put forward a lot of different questions. Food production is the primary role of farmers, but in the road map we also talk about the transition to more sustainable farming and regenerative farming, so I do not agree with his analysis. Actually, the focus of the road map and some of our SFI actions on healthier soils will help to ensure that farms are more productive and less reliant on expensive inputs such as chemical fertilisers. The hon. Gentleman talks about unfair charges. We are bringing the Groceries Code Adjudicator under DEFRA and we are looking at what more we can do to make things fairer for farmers, including in the road map, bringing down barriers and helping more co-operatives to be established, because that redresses the power imbalance he talked about. I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman on the importance of uplands to the farming sector and to our countryside—I know he has a very beautiful constituency. We have increased the payment rates for upland farmers for some SFI actions and the road map talks about our plans to make it easier for upland farmers to access schemes. I am happy to have a longer conversation with him about that, including about commoners. As he knows, we have commissioned a review by Hilary Cottam. I think he has been working with her too, which is welcome. A third of land is tenanted; it is a really important sector. We want a vibrant sector. I appointed the country’s first ever Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector, Alan Laidlaw. We know that a lot of tenants are very anxious about the shift away from long-term tenancies to shorter-term tenancies, so he is right to raise that. We have also commissioned the Law Commission to look at agriculture tenancy law. We are working with the sector to see what more we can do to ensure longer and more secure tenancies.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s farming road map, which the Farming Minister—my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan)—and I have published today. This 25-year farming road map is the first ever long-term plan for farming in this country, giving farmers the clarity and confidence that they need to make investment decisions. The plan backs farming, strengthens profitability and food security, and sets out a clear direction of travel for a thriving future for farming. The Government are also laying our detailed response to Baroness Batters’ independent farming profitability review. Farmers feed our nation. They produce over 65% of our food, manage 70% of our land, and support an agrifood sector worth £153 billion every year. I know that many hon. Members on both sides of the House will have seen at first hand farmers’ dedication to feeding our nation and protecting our natural environment, and the farming sector has a long tradition of adapting to change over generations. It has survived war, disease, trade shocks and extreme weather—

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind words. There is a focus in the road map on innovation and on reducing the use of inputs and therefore the costs in farming, so that we can maximise profits for the farming sector. The farming sector faces huge challenges, as I have set out, whether from extreme weather or volatile markets. We all know the challenges, but the Government are here to smooth the path to a more innovative and productive sector.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  We will, and I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this issue to the House. We need to be less reliant on imported fertiliser, and sustainable low-carbon fertiliser is to be welcomed. I look forward to working with him on that.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  It is in the road map, but I want to say, first, that I look forward to going on holiday in the right hon. Gentleman’s constituency at some stage—sounds like we get a great service! I will let him know when I am on my way. He is right to mention this issue. It is something that we are looking at, and it is mentioned in the road map. I know that there are real problems for commoners getting access to some Government schemes, so that is something he will see in the road map. Upland farmers and others really need to ensure that they can access the schemes that we have.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for marking my homework, and I look forward to having it marked in even more detail when I appear before his Committee. There is a separate document in which we have published our response thematically to the 57 recommendations of Baroness Batters’ profitability review. We are already working closely with the sector to take forward those recommendations. In December, we accepted a number of her recommendations: first, the Farming and Food Partnership Board; secondly, the sector growth plans; and thirdly, the trade missions. I suspect that I will be able to answer the right hon. Gentleman’s questions in more detail when I come before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.

• 24 Jun 2026 · Farming Road Map and Profitability Review · Hansard source

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  Can I gently remind the right hon. and learned Gentleman of the previous Administration’s Brexit deal and the move away from basic payments to environmental land management schemes? The shift that he is talking about, which has led us to have to stress that food production is the primary focus of farming, was precisely because of the move that happened under his Government.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to emphasise the appalling record of Thames Water, and the impact that it is having not just on her constituents but on businesses in her constituency. As I have said, there are two different options for a special administration regime, and we remain open to all eventualities.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  As a country, we have failed to build a reservoir for 30 years. That cannot be right. On the specific reservoir to which the hon. Gentleman refers, we will have to look at the details, but as it stands the company is ongoing; it is a solvent company and it should continue to complete the projects that it started.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for welcoming the fact that I have sent the letter with my early concerns. As I said, there are two different ways for a special administration regime. One is insolvency, which is a matter for the directors of the company and would have to go through the courts. The other is the performance tsar.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  As I said in answer to a previous question, through the clean water Bill the Government will seek to ensure that the new water regulator—which will be integrating the functions of Ofwat, the EA, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Natural England—does not allow companies to get into the sorts of unmanageable levels of debt that we have seen.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  We are working closely with Ofwat, which has been talking to the consortium of investors for two years. Through my officials, the Government have been in discussions with the consortium alongside Ofwat since November. I thank all the officials who have been involved in those discussions. We need to find a way forward that puts customers and the environment at its heart.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  Quite simply, I do not want customers to pick up the bill for the repeated failures of Thames Water, but I hear the hon. Gentleman’s concerns about uncertainty, and I would like to see this situation resolved.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  I thank my constituency neighbour for his question. Like him, I have had complaints about Thames Water in my constituency. With regard to his broader question, I reassure him that when we bring the clean water Bill to the House, there will be provisions for more intense regional planning, which involves water companies, local authorities and other stakeholders, so that we can avoid the sort of situation that he talks about.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  As I said in my statement, customers are at the front and centre of my consideration of this serious issue. The Environment Agency will continue to investigate any pollution incident and any breach of statutory obligations of any water company, including Thames Water, and will continue to take enforcement action against those companies, including the imposition of fines.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  I certainly want to turn the page on the failures of this company that have affected my hon. Friend’s constituents and those of other Members. Thanks to the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, for which my hon. Friend voted, polluting water companies do not now receive bonuses. However, he is right to suggest that we need to resolve this situation and ensure that the improvements he has mentioned take place, and I have expressed my early concerns about this proposal because I do not want to see significant delays in such improvements.

• 16 Jun 2026 · Thames Water · Hansard source

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  I do not always agree with the right hon. Gentleman, but I do so on this issue. There has been real regulatory failure here—there has been a failure of the regulators, and a failure of the regulation itself. The Conservatives decided to cut the enforcement budget of the Environment Agency, and there has been a shift towards self-monitoring, which essentially means that the water companies have been marking their own homework. It is like telling Ofsted not to visit any schools—that is the equivalent of the regime that we saw under the Conservatives. The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that customers and the environment need to be at the heart of the solution to this issue.