Andrew Arbuckle : Spelman needs to get results in order to survive

IN ONE of her first moves as the newly appointed Defra secretary, Caroline Spelman MP spoke to her German counterpart, Ilse Aigner and the French agricultural minister, Bruno le Maire.

I would say these early contacts were astute moves by Spelman as Germany and France are still big hitters in the expanded European Union and their attitude to Common Agricultural Policy reform will be important.

What was also impressive was that I believe the conversations were in German and French and not in her native English. It may seem a small point especially if seen from a point of view that "everyone should be able to speak English" but I believe the ability to converse in someone's else's own language is a bonus.

Admittedly, I did not subscribe to that view half a century ago, when my teacher was trying to instil in me the finer points of German grammar or when I was trying to remember the French words that ended in "eau" in the singular but added an "x" in the plural.

At that point in my life, I knew that if I was at home there would be a job driving a tractor or helping the men on the farm so there was no reason at all why I should fill up brain cells trying to cope with other people's languages.

The first time I regretted my inability to converse in another language was at an EU Agricultural Council meeting held in Newcastle. The United Kingdom held the presidency and was hosting the event.

Unfortunately, it was at the height of the BSE crisis and Germany had closed its doors to British meat. At a press conference, the German minister gave a diplomatic view on the situation in his perfect English.

I asked a probing question in fairly good English and he replied in perfect German. Without even looking at my blank note pad, I knew the point was made.

I view Spelman's fluency in two of the main European languages as a plus. In fact, I do not recall any other leading UK agricultural minister in Europe ever having the same facility.

In other respects, her CV is dominated with a range of agricultural work.

She worked with the English NFU as secretary of the sugar beet committee before going off to be deputy director of the European sugar beet growers.

This appointment was followed by research work in the Centre for European Agricultural Studies.

She also did a stint on the board of Food From Britain before moving into the world of politics. Again, I wondered when last the UK had a lead politician with such a wide knowledge of the farming sector?

Now I recognise that neither her language skills nor her knowledge of the industry will ensure success in European negotiations.

The ability to grind out results round the table is equally important as is knowing just when to make the moves and when to hold the ground.

These skills may seem somewhat abstract to farmers who deal in the practical realities of life.

But, in my view there is a world of difference between an able and resolute negotiator and one who just enjoys being there and misses the implications of what is being discussed and decided in front of his/her eyes.

I have no direct knowledge of Spelman's ability in this field but one of my contacts who has had dealing with her on one of her committees told me that she was "extremely sharp" at picking up issues.

As the leader of the UK delegation she will need to be. Not only are we one of the larger EU member states but with our system of devolved government, common goals require to be sorted out before sitting down at any table.

There is quite a difference between Scottish, Ulster and Welsh views on the next version of the Cap from those put forward from England. These discussions will be in English and these talks are very necessary before sitting down at the big European table.

Lest this be considered a paean of unqualified praise for the new UK minister rather than a expression of optimism about her appointment, let me add that there are two or three little clouds hovering over Spelman.

The first related to a smack on the knuckles back in the 1990s for using Parliamentary expenses to pay from a children's nanny.

And she walks a fine line of potential conflict of interest between her work as head of Defra and her husband being a director of a firm which has a major contract with the same organisation.