WEST Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox has accused the Government of failing farmers and the rural community. following a farming debate at the Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth last week. Mr Cox was invited by the National Farmers? Union to chair the debate on the future of British farming. It involved NFU president Peter Kendall, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Peter Ainsworth, and managing director of Green Spirit Fuels, a Somerset company that produces bioethanol, Malcolm Shepherd. In a broad debate entitled ?British Agriculture: Beyond Price??, attended by a strong contingent of farmers from the South West, Mr Cox chaired a wide range of questions on subjects, including biofuels, dairy prices, Bovine TB, public access to waterways, the influence of supermarkets, and the future role of Defra. In a parliamentary question he called on the Government to reveal how many farmers have still to receive last year?s single farm payments and to ensure that the distress and hardship caused by the payment are not repeated. He has also urged ministers at Defra to name a date by which payments for 2006/07 will commence. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Cox said: ?I was delighted to chair a debate about matters so important to my own and other rural constituencies at the conference. ?Issues affecting farming and rural communities have been systematically ignored by this Government and it was a welcome opportunity to consider a more appropriate response. ?Members of the audience made clear their strong beliefs that farmers are integral to the future of the countryside, and that while the nature of farming will certainly change, the vital role of those who work the land in rural communities will continue.?
