I would like to assure you that claims that the Government is rowing back on commitments to our farming reforms or nature are wholly untrue.

Now that we are outside of the European Union, the UK is free from the Common Agricultural Policy, which did little to deliver for farmers, farming or the environment. The Government was elected on a manifesto which pledged to maintain the budget for farming but spend it in a way that does better for farming and nature.

My ministerial colleagues and I want to support the choices that individual farmers make for their farms, boost food production and agricultural productivity. This will bolster the rural economy and support communities across the country. Ministers are rolling out new schemes which will support farmers to both produce high-quality food and enhance the natural environment.

Further, the Environment Act 2021 includes a commitment to halt the decline of nature by 2030. This Government will never undermine its commitments to the environment in pursuit of growth. Any reforms will rightly contribute to growing our economy in equal step with successfully meeting our commitments in the 25-Year Environment Plan and the legally binding environmental targets through this Act.

Internationally, the UK has committed to protect 30 per cent of its land and ocean by 2030, through the Leaders Pledge for Nature, which committed to putting nature and biodiversity globally on a road to recovery by 2030.

We have the chance to have a farming industry that is more independent and resilient. It will be an industry that champions economic growth and increases domestic production while returning nature to the land and improving the natural assets that support food production, such as high-quality soil. I take a great deal of interest in this subject being a farmer myself and I have been at the forefront in pressing Government to ensure that the UK produces as much affordable, high welfare and high quality produce as possible so we are less reliant on imports.

I am aware that the purpose of speeding up the planning system in defined Investment Zone areas is to cut back on unnecessary bureaucratic requirements and processes that slow down high-quality development or make it more complex than it needs to be. This includes removing burdensome EU requirements which create paperwork and stall development but do not necessarily protect the environment; focusing developer contributions on essential infrastructure requirements; and reducing lengthy consultation with statutory bodies. I understand from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities that key planning policies which ensure developments protect our precious natural heritage and maintain national policy on Green Belt will continue to apply.