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4.31 pm
Mr. Bob Blizzard (Waveney): I am very pleased to follow the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien), and congratulate him on a very high-quality maiden speech. I congratulate him also on his by-election victory in July. He and I have at least one thing in common--we both have fairly obscure constituency names. My constituency was named after a river, whereas his was named after a hill. I had the pleasure of spending several days in his constituency just before he was elected, and hope that he has now settled in to a delightful area and made the transition from Chichester.
A Government's mettle is tested in times of crisis, when it is very important to keep a clear head, to show resolve and to stay calm. That is exactly what our Government are doing. Their actions in dealing with France, its beef and our beef ban have been exactly right. If a country wants to be taken seriously and to uphold its credentials as a constitutional democracy, it should stay
within the law, and its decisions should have a sound basis. In the current case, that basis has to be found in science. Using the twin pillars of law and science, we shall achieve consistency. That is what the Government are about.
Today, the official Opposition are publicly advocating law-breaking and disregarding science. However, if we take a pick-and-mix approach, we shall only lose credibility. The official Opposition's proposals have not impressed the National Farmers Union, and have shown the official Opposition, in their actions, to be no better than the French. Moreover, in yesterday's Prime Minister's Question Time, I noted that the Leader of the Opposition lacked the spine to admit, in full public glare, that he was advocating law-breaking.
Why are we having a debate on such an issue? It all stems back to BSE. When that crisis started, the then Government showed us precisely how not to handle such an affair. They tried, first, sweeping the matter under the carpet. Secondly, they warned people that there might be a problem--then that there might not be a problem, and then that there probably was, but then again, and so on. All that did was to protract the crisis, permitting a long period in which so-called experts argued it out on the media, leading to uncertainty and a loss of confidence both in British farmers and in the previous Government. Eventually, when the revelations were made, the home beef market collapsed and a worldwide ban was imposed. It is no wonder that Conservative Members have today said that they do not like the official BSE inquiry.
Let us compare the previous Government's approach in addressing such issues with that of the current Government. When the current Government received evidence that there was a risk, albeit a small one, of eating beef on the bone, they acted swiftly and decisively. Beef sales were hardly dented, but a strong message was sent that the Government take food safety seriously. In my constituency, the main concern of the independent butchers who came to see me was that they should be able to cut beef off the bone in their own shops, as they have been able to do. I have had very few complaints about the Government's action on beef on the bone, other than from some fox hunters, who tried to link the issues of fox hunting and beef on the bone.
Mr. Letwin:
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Blizzard:
No, I cannot; I am sorry, but I have only 10 minutes.
The way in which the current Government have been acting in lifting the European and worldwide beef ban also contrasts starkly with the behaviour of the previous Government. The policy of non-co-operation in Europe not only isolated us, but failed. The policy was also exploited by anti-Europeans, who wanted the previous Government to adopt a position forcing them either to back down entirely, or to withdraw entirely from the European Union. That is a stark contrast with the skilful and successful negotiations conducted by my right hon. Friend the Agriculture Minister--who, but for the deviousness of the French, would have succeeded completely.
Nevertheless, without the European Union machinery, we would not be able to tackle France. Without that machinery, unilateral action could break out across
Europe. Without it, we would have no rules to enforce, only chaos. The official Opposition have demonstrated that they want to encourage that chaos. The road that they want to take would involve more law-breaking and a trade war that would be in no one's interest.
Ever since I was elected to the House, Conservative Members have tried to portray themselves as the farmer's friends. However, farmers themselves know where Conservative policy on the beef ban would lead, and that that policy would not be in their interest. Farmers tell me that they are in favour of joining a single currency, although not at the current rate--whereas the Conservative party would completely rule out joining, for an arbitrary period. The whole drift of Conservative policy points to a withdrawal from the European Union--from which farmers, certainly in my part of the country, gain great benefits in markets and payments.
Conservative Members are so proud to have negotiated the so-called rebate. That is fine, but, in farming debates, they fail to say that British farmers suffered for that rebate, which makes it harder for British than for other European farmers to draw down agrimonetary compensation.
The official Opposition also pretend that farming problems started in May 1997, whereas, as we all know, the real start of our problems was the BSE crisis. The cost of some of the controls necessary to get us out of that crisis has been causing competition problems for our farmers. Conservative Members also do not say that pig welfare legislation was passed, albeit on a cross-party basis, by the previous Government. Furthermore, the United Kingdom has long had the structure--which my right hon. Friend the Agriculture Minister is now tackling--that enables supermarkets to enjoy huge mark-ups, but which means losses for farmers.
We should realise that farmers around the world are having problems. This summer, I spent some time in the United States, which we tend to think of as consisting of large, prosperous farms. However, that is not so. I met people from Iowa who told me of the dire straits in which farmers in that very agricultural state find themselves. Farmers in the United States are taking the same action as our farmers, encouraging people with slogans such as, "Eat the pork produced in our county". The United States also has a national campaign to promote "the other white meat"--although American consumers buy mostly beef and chicken, farmers there are promoting pork.
The most amazing thing I saw in my trip was a television programme, called "Farm Aid", devoted to the plight of the state's farmers. Just like "Children in Need" and other British aid appeals, the programme invited people to telephone and make a pledge, in this instance to help farmers. Although I do not know how many people made a pledge, or how many would do so in the United Kingdom if we had such a programme, it demonstrated that there are problems in the United States, as there are around the world.
As has already been said, the BSE problem has so far cost £4 billion, and the figure is rising. However, at least we have now installed the controls to give us an opportunity to make a return on the outlay. We have the safest and best-quality farm produce in the world, and we must capitalise on that fact in the home market. Today's announcement on new, clear labels will give us the opportunity to promote British farm produce and to promote a recovery.
Today is a critical day. The integrity of the Scientific Steering Committee of the European Union is at stake, as is the European Union's machinery in its response. I hope that the French will see sense. People in this country are incensed. I am, and I have not been eating French food. I support the approach taken by my right hon. Friendthe Minister, which is not inconsistent with the Government's. The Government should not break the law, but individuals can exercise consumer choice. We should not hide our feelings.
Mr. Peter Luff (Mid-Worcestershire):
It is a great privilege to be the first Conservative Member to be called to speak after the maiden speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien). By any standards, it was a fine maiden speech and we all look back on our own and wish that we had done half or quarter as well as he did today.
I speak today as Chairman of the Select Committee on Agriculture and also as a Back Bencher. I hope that it will be clear when I am wearing which hat. I am sorry that we face a 10-minute rule, because as Chairman of the Committee I feel a certain obligation to touch on all the issues facing farming, much as the Minister did in his opening speech, but I do not have that opportunity. I also apologise in advance for the fact that I will not be able to give way or respond to interventions.
In the Agriculture Committee's first report of this Session, published in December, we highlighted the crisis in farming, which was then the worst since the 1930s and was, uniquely and disastrously, affecting all sectors of farming. Sad to say, our report published today can note only that the situation has not improved. The desperate downturn continues. For example, I attended a meeting in the Vale of Evesham last week, where I was told by one of the country's leading apple growers that he expects half of all English apple growers to go out of production next year. What a sad way for horticulture to celebrate the next millennium.
We all know--or should know--about the dramatic collapse in farm incomes of some 75 per cent. over two years. It cannot be said too often that the minimum wage applies only to farm workers, not to the farmers themselves. If it did, they would not be allowed to continue in business.
I am glad to say that the Agriculture Committee has had several opportunities to praise the Ministry in the past year. I had intended to speak at some length on those issues, but the 10-minute rule has got in the way. However, I can say that the Committee will welcome many of the things that the Minister had to say in his opening speech.
We should highlight the action that has been taken on bovine tuberculosis. The Committee was impressed by the resolve shown by MAFF in taking forward the Krebs report and in seeking a rational, scientific basis on which to build a policy for the control of TB in cattle. I have to
say to the animal rights lobby that if badgers have rights, so do cows. They have a right to be protected from bovine TB and a premature death. Farmers also have rights--the right to a policy, based on science, that will reduce or possibly eliminate the scourge of bovine TB, which continues to increase day by day.
It was not an easy decision for Ministers to accept the Krebs recommendations and we congratulate them on doing so. We offer our continued support to Baroness Hayman, who is now the Minister in charge of that policy area, in the difficult task of implementing the field trials. A democratically elected Government pursuing the right policy, as the Government are doing, must prevail over the violent protests of misguided extremists.
The Agriculture Committee has also found much common ground with the Minister on his ambitions for CAP reform. The Agenda 2000 negotiations earlier this year presented an opportunity to reform the CAP to create a system more appropriate to the needs of farmers and consumers and taxpayers of the 21st century, and one capable of withstanding the World Trade Organisation negotiations, which are the most important issue for British agriculture's long-term future today. Sadly, the opportunity was lost. The protectionist instincts of certain other EU states overcame the more reformist views of others, including the Minister and the European Commission itself. In my judgment, the action by Jacques Chirac in Berlin was much more damaging to the long-term future of British and European farming than France's illegal folly over British beef exports. We will live to regret Mr. Chirac's behaviour for much longer. It was particularly disappointing to see more milk quota going to the other side of the Irish sea, while none came here. Dairy farmers are saddened by that.
The Committee's current inquiry is into the marketing of milk. I see that inquiry as being important not only to dairy farmers and the dairy industry, but to the whole of farming. Perhaps unwittingly--and we will discover the truth when the Minister appears before us in a few weeks' time--the Government have sent a message to farmers that they will not tolerate vertically integrated farmer- owned co-operatives on the same scale as seen in the rest of Europe and, indeed, the world. I hope that the whole House agrees--and the Minister said as much in the Chamber earlier this week--that the future of farming lies in much closer co-operation and in helping farmers to capture more of the added value that currently goes to other participants in the chain.
Talking of the need for co-operation leads me logically to pigs. Much has been said, rightly, about the pig industry today and we all welcome the Minister's remarks today. However, I do not know whether his proposals will be sufficient to address the crisis in that industry. The pig industry needs to co-operate more, because it is too fragmented and that has been one source of its difficulties.
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