| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
4.26 pm
Mr. Tim Yeo (South Suffolk): I beg to move,
- "That this House notes that, since 1st May 1997, the farm gate price of milk has fallen by over a quarter, the price received by farmers for cull cows has fallen by over one third and the income of dairy farmers has collapsed; condemns the Government's failure in recent CAP negotiations to secure any immediate increase in milk quota for mainland Britain whilst conceding increases for other EU countries; deplores the delay in publishing the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on Milk Marque, thus needlessly damaging confidence in the industry; expresses concern that outbreaks of TB have risen substantially; and urges the Government to remedy this crisis by addressing these issues, ending its disgraceful neglect of the dairy industry, strengthening Milk Marque and implementing the Krebs Report without further delay".
I welcome the presence not only of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food but of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. It is rare for not just one but two members of the Cabinet to attend an agriculture debate--although both represent urban seats. [Interruption.] Who knows? Perhaps in a week or two the Government will dredge up someone with a rural seat to speak on these matters.
I shall have a word to say to the Secretary of State in a moment, but I shall start with the Minister. It is almost exactly a year since his appointment to his post, and I think even he would acknowledge that it has been a year of appalling crisis for agriculture. British farmers today face worse conditions than farmers have faced for a generation. Total income from farming has halved since Labour came to power, and the agony has been spread throughout the industry. Cereal prices have fallen by a third, livestock prices by a quarter and milk prices by well over a fifth. Collapsing prices mean collapsing incomes; they mean the destruction of family farms; they mean the loss of jobs in the countryside. There is not much of a new deal there.
Astonishingly, during this year of crisis the Government have not arranged a single agriculture debate. The only debates initiated by them in which the Minister has taken part have been on quarantine and on the Food Standards Bill. Not a moment of Government time has been used to allow Parliament to consider the plight of British farmers. The Minister may be a good listener outside, but he has not been keen to listen to Parliament. I suppose that, in that respect, he is following the example of his leader.
Although the Opposition control only a fraction of parliamentary time, this is the third occasion on which they have raised the problems of farming in a full-scale debate. Sadly, it is all too typical of Labour's attitude to the countryside that it should try to ignore this crisis completely. Labour's contempt for agriculture was exposed in its recent paper "Rural England: a discussion document", which set out the party's so-called vision for the countryside--a vision that occupied a whole page of
that rather brief publication. Labour's vision for the countryside includes not a single mention of farming or of farmers.
I think that, to be fair, we can partially exempt the Minister from these criticisms. Occasionally, I have heard him, both inside and outside the House, offering sympathy to farmers. He seems at least to have impressed the Duke of York. Perhaps that is why we read that the Prime Minister is to move the Minister on. Perhaps the Prime Minister fears that, if the Minister were to stay another year, his sympathy might even be turned into action; or his warm words might be matched by some daring deeds; or comparisons between his predecessor's extravagance and his own rather admirably frugaltravel and entertainment spending may be causing embarrassment to the Cabinet enforcer.
Today, we shall focus on the dairy sector. In spring 1997, just before the general election, farm gate prices for milk were about 14p per pint. The latest farm gate prices for milk are less than 10p per pint. In the past two years, the value of Britain's milk production has fallen by more than £750 million, and the impact on dairy farmers has been devastating.
Ms Jackie Lawrence (Preseli Pembrokeshire):
The hon. Gentleman mentioned milk prices in spring 1997. Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food show that, in spring 1997, the price was 11.65p a pint; and that the current price is 9.96p a pint. That is a 10 per cent. decrease. Between July 1995 and the 1997 general election, however, the price per pint fell by a massive 24 per cent.
Mr. Yeo:
Unfortunately, the hon. Lady is quoting from exactly the same sheet from the Library as I am. She has chosen--if she cares to tell the whole truth--the April 1997 figure, which was 11.65p per pint. However, at no time in the previous three years--I have the monthly figure for every month of those three years--did the price fall below 13p a pint. In January, February and March 1997, the price was 13.7p, 13.5p and 13.46p per pint. Furthermore, as I said, for the whole of the previous three years, the figure was as I have just quoted it.
If the hon. Member for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Ms Lawrence) is trying to make a point by so selectively using statistics, I am grateful to her for giving me the opportunity of proving absolutely clearly that the milk price for the whole of the latter period of the previous Government was substantially above even the level that I have quoted.
Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby):
It is true that, when the previous Government were in office, farmers complained to me--as they complained to my hon. Friend--about many things. However, the one thing that they never complained about was dairy farming, as dairy farmers did incredibly well under the previous Government.
Mr. Yeo:
My hon. Friend must talk to different farmers, because I have never met a farmer of any type who does not complain about something.
The Prime Minister likes talking about hard choices. Unfortunately, when it comes to farming, the choices that Labour makes are hard not for Ministers, but for farmers. Farmers in the dairy sector are used to long hours, but they are now having to get used to small rewards.
Earlier this year, the Government had a chance tohelp dairy farmers. On 11 March, Agriculture Ministers completed their discussions on common agricultural policy reforms. I am sure that the Minister remembers it well--I think it was late at night. According to The Times of the next day, the Prime Minister's spokesman said that the outcome
The deal proposed that milk quotas--which currently prevent Europe from responding to growing world demand for dairy products--should continue until 2006, and that, although Britain's milk quota should be frozen until 2003, four other countries--Greece, Spain, Ireland and Italy--should enjoy higher milk quota next year. Increased Irish milk quota damages Britain. Imports of dairy products from Ireland will rise, and thereby undermine British dairy farmers. The deal was bad enough, but when the Prime Minister discussed it with Heads of other Governments later that month, they decided that quotas should stay not until 2006 but until 2008.
Mr. Dale Campbell-Savours (Workington):
May I ask the hon. Gentleman a question that requires a simple answer? Is it the position of the Conservative party that milk quotas should be completely ended?
Mr. Yeo:
Yes. The position is clear. We believe that milk quotas cannot continue in the long term if we are to meet World Trade Organisation obligations and if Europe is to take advantage of increasing market opportunities for selling dairy products. Britain cannot continue to be penalised by allowing Ireland an immediate increase in milk quota next year while ours is frozen for four years.
Mr. Campbell-Savours:
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Yeo:
No. The hon. Gentleman has been noticeable by his absence from agriculture debates over the past year. He has had his chance to intervene.
The deal is bad for Britain. We have some of the best dairy-producing land in Europe, but our farmers are prevented from meeting the demand even of home consumers. In recent years, around a third of our butter and cheese requirements have been met by imports. More than 10 per cent. of dairy products are imported. Ireland, by contrast, produces four times the amount of dairy products needed to meet its home demand.
Farmers might have hoped that the Prime Minister would bat for them and for Britain when he negotiated with his European colleagues, but he has bowled them out instead. With his eyes fixed on the headlines that he wanted about Britain's budget rebate, he allowed the deal, which his own spin doctors had already rubbished, to be made even worse. That is new Labour at work. If there is a chance to help the foreign farmer, new Labour take it. If there is a chance to hit the British farmer, new Labour take it. At the very moment the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was telling farmers that he supported them, the Prime Minister was bashing them.
Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley):
Following his announcement about ending milk quotas, does the hon.
"is not satisfactory as far as we are concerned".
I think that, for once, we can all agree with him.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |