MP Vessels

It must be tricky being Hilary Benn.  He gave the most heartfelt speech that he could and was given a fair old grilling from the floor.  The new Tory guy, Nick Herbert, stood up afterwards and was critical of a lot of what DEFRA are doing but he made no offers of reversing a single decision.  He made some cheap swipes.

The old adage that all farmers vote Conservative is not entirely without foundation, of course.  This is why we don't always get the best out of any political party.

The agricultural policies and goals of all of the political parties are the same, consumer-driven, free trade, abandonment of SFP and statutory stewardship.  Farmers need to see through the presentation style of the minister to find out what is ACTUALLY on offer.

I'm sure that both Benn and Herbert believe that they are doing their best for the industry but for me Benn was the more genuine and better-informed of the two.

Maybe I'm saying this because both of Nick Herbert's "funnies" fell flat.  He did a couple of old chestnuts which predated Moses and repeated the same Eisenhower quote that Hilary Benn had said a few minutes earlier.  If this guy ever gets into office we will need to order some extra supplies of tumbleweed for when he gives his speeches.