My Speech @ The Oxford Farming Conference 2024

I had the immense privilege in speaking at the Oxford Union to oppose the motion that farming for food is holding back nature recovery in protected landscapes. Alongside me was Will Cockbain as we opposed Ben Goldsmith and Sarah Dickins. Will and I were delighted to win the debate by 207 votes to 109. Unfortunately, my full speech wasn’t able to be recorded however you can find a written copy of my full speech below:

It is a huge privilege to be speaking here tonight. As an undergraduate I joined the Oxford Union under the influence of strong blue cocktails served out of black dustbins. This though is my first time speaking at the Union. I instead spent my time in this city running the University Ploughing Club – JPG, Julia the Plough Girl.

Ladies and Gentlemen; this motion pitches farming for food as the destroyer of nature. It is disingenuous, lazy and damaging. I urge you to vote against this motion.

I agree nature is in trouble in many protected areas. We need significant change in how we farm. We also need significant change in what we eat.

The question for you tonight is how best do we recover nature? My case tonight is that this government has failed in its duty to enable farmers recover nature.

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Protected areas cover one-quarter of England. We will not recover nature with policies to stop farming for food across one-quarter of England. We will not recover nature by alienaCng and beliNling the 21,000 farm businesses that manage our protected areas.

At home in Cumbria at Susan’s Farm I am as proud of our Globe Flowers as our Longhorn beef cattle. I am as excited by our resident Bittern as our lambs.

Others are doing great work too. Take Nic and Reno who farm near Renwick in the North Pennines. They produce beef and eggs in tandem with planting thousands of trees and restoring soils. And they encourage others by co-running Carbon Calling, the Groundswell of the North.

Change is though tricky especially when profits are slim and costs rising. To recover nature we urgently need to scale up support for change. This requires government to act at scale.

This motion is yet another example of a simplistic narrative - its attempt to “other” farmers is a hallmark of populism in the same way as:

• Anti-immigration policies “other” refugees

• Anti-protest laws “other” climate activists

But as with all fabricated culture wars they not only create wedges but are counterproductive. We will not recover nature by crushing the identity of farmers whose sense of self is indelibly bound up with food.

So I put to you it is not farming for food holding back nature recovery but our shambolic government.

This government are in thrall to big business and have botched the agricultural transition.

With 10 Secretaries of State in 13 years it is perhaps not surprising the Tories have failed to grasp the biggest opportunity in 70 years to recover nature.

During this seven year period of mismanagement unbelievably The Conservatives have increased core Defra staff almost fourfold. From 1,800 in 2016 to nearly 7,000 in 2023.

Yet farmers still live in a dystopian Cinderella tale where if you did not submit your SFI application by midnight on 31st December like the ball gown and the carriage your online form disappeared.

Don’t be swayed by Ben and Sarah’s arCculate arguments. Instead let’s celebrate food as part of the package of outcomes from protected areas.

In line with this conference’s them of Power in Diversity let’s aim for nature, food & beauty.

So if you would like nature recovery in protected areas

• What you don’t do is withdraw BPS before a functioning ELM scheme is up and running

• What you don’t do is offer an ELM package that financially disadvantages those who have been in Stewardship for decades.

• What you don’t do is allow multinationals to continue with unfair trading practices.

The Government may have laws for protecting nature on the statute book but they are not delivering. This government has promised cakeism which not surprisingly is impossible to deliver - instead they offer a diet of ever thinner gruel.

So what do we do to Recover Nature?.....

Many people far brighter than me have given this much thought. The Consensus on Food, Farming & Nature brings many of them together.

We the Liberal Democrats also have a detailed plan for a Fair Deal for Food, Farming & Nature.

Tonight I highlight three key steps:

1. We MUST make delivery for nature profitable - we know from Partha Dusgupta’s report investing nature is good value - The Lib Dems will up the budget by an addiConal £1 billion

2. We MUST provide a clear and stable ELM scheme rather than this intensely frustraCng drip feed of SFI options.

3. We MUST create and enforce a clear framework of standards that all must meet. Whether you are a farmer or a water company or a septic tank owner. We must all be held accountable for our actions.

And let’s seize the opportunity to connect the tens of millions of holiday makers to protected areas with high nature food landscapes. People love the culture of farming, of commoning, of rural life.

Research for Future Countryside conference showed that after the NHS the Countryside was number two of things making people proud to be British.

One of these visitors a few years ago was you Ben. You came to stay with me in Cumbria. ......and we headed off at 4am to watch black grouse lecking on Geltsdale Farm.

Here the Agricultural Holdings Act tenants have transformed their farming system.

Now with 120 head of Luing breeding cows the Wilsons now produce more food than in 2007 and some of the best wood pasture in England, flourishing blanket bogs and provide a home to breeding hen harriers.

So I would like to finish with a quote from Ben - from Country Life in 2021:

“Families who have worked the same land for generations are best placed to breathe life back into our landscapes.”

I rest my case; let’s celebrate diversity and vote against this motion. Thank you.