Dilemma over farms red-tape

The scale of the remit is also encouraging; very little policy will be left untouched by the review, a process that will, hopefully, free farmers from the bureaucratic straitjacket caused by New Labour's antipathy towards the countryside.

Yet, as Sir Bernard Ingham argues on the opposite page, reviews are only effective if the recommendations are acted upon. As such, this task force must not become an excuse for politicians to dither for any longer than necessary.

It is also noteworthy, given the volume of suggestions that were put forward by the farming fraternity, that the task force will examine the continued failings at the Rural Payments Agency, the now infamous quango undergoing yet another management upheaval because of its abiding failure to pay farm subsidies accurately and promptly.

The RPA's chronic inefficiency is, in many respects, the most significant piece of bureaucracy to undermine farmers. Their expectation is a simple one; to be paid on time like their counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

That said, it is also important that any desire on the part of the task force to abolish Labour's laws does not impinge on the many effective rules that govern animal welfare and hygiene. These safeguards are a key reason behind UK agriculture's renaissance, and the public's desire to buy local produce.

The task force should, by all means, abolish those rules that are cumbersome and unnecessary. That is this body's remit. Yet, equally, it has a duty to ensure that standards are maintained.