There is a quote that says, “There are two things that you should never see made—laws and sausages.” We are in a unique position today to be discussing a law that will help to make sausages. The reason that quote is said is all this bartering that we see going on back and forth, with ping-pong from our unique position here in the UK Parliament.
Following on from what the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) said in the previous speech, we can discuss how we got to here, but surely we celebrate the fact that the Government have listened to the Opposition parties, to those of us on these Benches, to the NFU and to the NFU Scotland. Minette Batters has been mentioned many times in this debate, but I want to pay credit to Andrew McCormick, the president of the NFU Scotland, and his leadership team—his vice-presidents and his policy advisers Clare Slipper and Jonnie Hall—who have constructively worked with the Government to get to the stage that we are at today. That is positive for the way that we do politics in this country and for the way that we can improve legislation going through this Parliament.
It was not an easy decision for me to oppose the Government a couple of weeks ago, but I supported the amendments at that time because there were no alternatives on offer from the Government. Tonight, the Government have brought forward a positive alternative, and even those on the Opposition Benches, through gritted teeth, have accepted that the Government have gone a long way to meet the demands of Opposition parties, and all those who have contributed to negotiations on the Bill. I think that is welcome, and we should celebrate a Government who are willing to improve their legislation to deliver the needs of MPs and the campaigning groups that engaged with us. We will have a better Bill as a result of that, and I am therefore pleased to support the Government tonight.
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This important Bill has been worked on by the Minister, who has engaged constructively with Back-Bench Members and partners across the country. The Bill delivers for Scottish farmers, English farmers, Welsh farmers, and Northern Irish farmers—in an intervention, the Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee provided that reassurance to Ulster farmers, just as a farmer from Ullapool now also has that reassurance and commitment from the Government. That is progress. We want our farmers to be represented in this Parliament and for their voices to be heard. We want legislation that comes from the UK Parliament, for the first time in more than 40 years, to have a direct impact on agriculture in this country, in a way that was so distant when such things were governed by the European Union. I welcome that, and the way that the Government have approached this issue.
Farmers across the country in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland will recognise that their Parliament has united around the common aims of upholding the standards for which they have worked so hard over the years, and we can continue to trade in a positive way not just in the United Kingdom, but around the world. The products that our farmers produce will continue to be world-beating and world-leading.