RECENTLY we’ve seen Plaid’s Rural Affairs Minister, Elin Jones, responding to the European Commission’s proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which delivers £280million to farmers in Wales through the Single Payment Scheme.
The Welsh Government’s position differs dramatically from that outlined by the Westminster Conservative Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman, who during a recent speech on CAP said that “Now is the time to make very significant progress towards reducing our reliance on direct payments” and to “plan for their abolition”.
Within the last few weeks Elin Jones presented a written statement on this issue calling for direct payments to farmers to continue. I want to make it quite clear that we in Plaid Cymru are against any major reduction in the CAP budget.
The CAP Single Payment Scheme typically contributes between 80 and 90 per cent of farm business income and based on latest income figures for 2010, it is evident that all farming sectors in Wales would be non-viable without CAP payments.
Elin Jones has said she will use the months ahead to play a full role in helping to shape the UK negotiating position, and as part of that process will withstand any attempts to bring direct payments to an end.
This position taken by the Conservative-Liberal government in Westminster is vey disappointing and is in contrast with the approach of our Welsh Government. It’s not surprising that the Tory UK Secretary of State’s ambition to ‘abolish’ direct payments has been met with significant hostility from farming representatives.
I would urge everyone to make sure that the European Commission is fully aware of what’s best for the industry in Wales and that our views differ to those of the UK Government. We also need to make sure that the local Tory-Liberal politicians know that what their government is doing is unacceptable to the agricultural industry in Powys.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a complete lack of understanding from the Tory-Liberal Government with regards to the needs of those living and working in rural Wales. I know that Plaid’s Elin Jones is working hard on this issue and will continue to do her best to influence the UK response to the European consultation on CAP reform.
We can’t let the Tory – Liberal Westminster government put the agricultural industry here in Mid Wales at risk.
The huge increase in fuel prices has been a major topic of debate in recent months as well. Last week Plaid Cymru and the SNP led a debate which called on the Conservative-led Government to fulfil their pre-election pledge to establish a fuel duty regulator.
Despite widespread support from leading industry bodies and motorist groups, the motion was defeated and voted down by a majority of MPs by 303 to 14.
I was very disappointed to note that the two MPs, Glyn Davies and Roger Williams, who represent Powys at Westminster voted against this motion. It is now three years since the Conservatives announced their conversion to a policy which Plaid Cymru have been promoting since 2005.
But on each and every occasion when they could show their support for a fuel duty regulator they have failed to vote for it.
There has been a massive hike in the cost of fuel recently, felt by all sections of society, and not all of it down to the rising cost of oil.
The Tory-led Government’s VAT increase and fuel duty hike have pushed the price of a litre up by at least 3.5p in the last month alone – and it is set to get worse with another 1p rise in duel duty this April. It is businesses and families in rural areas who are facing the pain – for us a car is a necessity and not a luxury.
We need decisive action. Unfortunately, some politicians always seem to say the right things locally but when it comes to the crunch they fail to act.