Responding to an interview with the new Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Shadow Rural Affairs Minister and Local Senedd Member Samuel Kurtz said:

“There was genuine hope in the agricultural community and across rural Wales that a new Minister would bring a new perspective. Sadly, it feels like a change of course is not on the Cabinet Secretary’s agenda.

“Following the mass gatherings of farmers in Welshpool, Carmarthen and the protest at the steps of the Senedd, the key issues remain the SFS, bovine TB and NVZs. The broken relationship between rural Wales and the Welsh Government could be repaired by addressing these three points. Failure to do so will only lead to a wider gulf emanating between the two.”