Farmers protests: Tories and Plaid call for funding plan axe

Opposition parties in the Senedd have voted in favour of scrapping the Welsh government's controversial Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).

It comes after thousands of farmers protested against the plans in Cardiff Bay.

It will require farmers to commit 10% of agricultural land to be used for trees and 10% for wildlife habitat.

Despite the Tories and Plaid uniting in the Senedd, a motion calling for the scheme to be axed failed to pass.

The vote, also supported by Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds, was tied 26 votes to 26, triggering a rule that forced deputy presiding officer David Rees to vote with the government.

A Welsh government amendment to the motion also failed to pass for the same reason.

The votes would not have been binding on the government.

The Conservatives' rural affairs spokesman, Samuel Kurtz, told a Senedd debate that the three letters representing the name of the policy, SFS, "are so tainted in the eyes of farmers that no scheme can go forwards if it is called the Sustainable Farming Scheme".

"I no longer believe SFS can exist regardless of whatever changes are made to it," he said.

"It must be a new scheme brought forward... it must be genuine co-design."

Plaid Cymru counterpart Llyr Gruffydd recalled memories of standing "shoulder-to-shoulder with miners as they battled for their livelihoods" 40 years ago.

"I don't see any differences between the laudable and valid stances taken then and those taken today by many in our rural communities", he said.

That drew a response later in the debate from the Labour MS for Blaenau Gwent, Alun Davies, who told members: "So long as I have got a breath left in my body, this government will never, ever, ever do to rural Wales what Thatcher's government did to the mining valleys of south Wales."

Plaid Cymru is in a co-operation deal with Welsh Labour ministers, which includes the SFS. It says the two sides will agree "longer-term arrangements for Welsh agriculture".

Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said on Tuesday that his party was not quitting the co-operation deal.

Responding on behalf of the Welsh government to the Senedd debate, Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths said the UK government had "broken their promise to replace EU farm funding in Wales".

"They have removed almost a quarter of a billion pounds from our farm support budgets. That's money which should have been invested in our rural communities."

Meanwhile both the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru have called on Ms Griffiths to correct remarks made in the Senedd about cash to help farmers with water pollution regulations.

On Wednesday, Lesley Griffiths said she had never said the £20m announced was "additional money".

But a joint statement from Ms Griffiths and the first minister yesterday had in fact described the cash as additional funding.

Opposition parties also supported a non-binding Plaid Cymru motion calling on the Welsh government to urgently change its policy in tackling bovine TB, which also failed to pass.