This Bill will provide the legal framework for the UK to leave the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) after Brexit. The main focus of the Bill is to end direct payments (which are based on the amount of land being farmed and therefore give the greater rewards to the largest landowners) and to set out how farmers and land managers will in future be paid for “public goods”, such as better air and water quality, improved soil health, higher animal welfare standards, public access to the countryside and measures to reduce flooding. The Bill also contains the powers for the Government to offer financial assistance to incentivise farmers’ productivity. 

This Bill aims to strengthen the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy and is partly in response to the poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury earlier this year. It will introduce a number of new laws, including the ability of police and immigration officers to question people suspected of hostile activities at airports and ports, and then potentially deport them. It will also introduce longer sentences of up to 15 years for terrorist propaganda offences and make it easier to tackle those who stream or repeatedly view extremist material online. As with most counter-terrorism measures this will be heavily scrutinised by civil liberties and human rights groups.