So the whole of the economy and everyone in the region are directly affected as a result of what may appear on the surface to be a Crisis of the Rural Economy.

Clearly, and without dwelling on it, there is a serious Crisis in the Rural Economy, brought on not least by the most recent announcements by the Government - which I personally regard as regrettable - on the sale of beef on the bone.

We are facing a Crisis in the Rural Economy, which is a crisis in rural Wales.

May I draw his attention to the profound gloom in the industry in Wales, which is combining with the collapse of livestock prices to lead to a Crisis in the Rural Economy of Wales?

However, there is hardly any public debate about the Crisis in the Rural Economy and hardly any consideration of the social, economic and financial costs to the rest of the community.

The Bill should be seen against the background of a Crisis in the Rural Economy, which the Bill fails to deal with in any fundamental respect.

I do not believe that it should be attacked on the ground that it does not cover every countryside matter; nor should we fail to support it because it does not address what I recognise are the very real issues of Crisis in the Rural Economy.

There is a Crisis in the Rural Economy, not only in Leicestershire but in other parts of the country, too.

Obviously, poverty anywhere is a serious problem, but we must recognise that added dimension in the light of the widening Crisis in the Rural Economy.

Does the Minister agree that, at a time of Crisis in the Rural Economy, the 30 per cent.

All I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that everyone in the Government takes the Crisis in the Rural Economy extremely seriously.

We shall take that wider perspective as we address the Crisis in the Rural Economy.

As for the developing Crisis in the Rural Economy in Scotland, the crisis in oil jobs was manufactured in Downing street.