| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
6.48 pm
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Elliot Morley): This has been an exceptional debate, with the possible exception of the speeches of Opposition Front Benchers, including the hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo), who apparently, in agriculture debates, cannot see a top without going over it.
The hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) made a well-balanced and reasonable maiden speech. He expressed the concerns of the farmers whom he represents, which we well understand. He referred to Milk Marque. I point out that the report by the Office of Fair Trading was independent. It was not a Government report; the Government had to respond to it. The Government are in favour of Milk Marque going into processing. My right
hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry did not accept the report's recommendation to break up Milk Marque, but he gave Milk Marque time to decide how it wanted to reorganise itself, and it has done that. Having reorganised, it will be able to invest in processing, in line with the OFT report.
My hon. Friend the Member for Braintree (Mr. Hurst) also raised the point. He mentioned marketing, too. I am very pleased to say that, as my right hon. Friend the Minister said, there will be a marketing scheme for milk to the value of £10 million, which comprises contributions from both sides of the industry.
The hon. Member for Ceredigion (Mr. Dafis) mentioned milk--which is very important to his constituency--as did my hon. Friend the Member for Lancaster and Wyre (Mr. Dawson) and the hon. Member for Torridge and West Devon (Mr. Burnett). The hon. Gentleman also asked about proceedings on the beef ban. There are no fast-track proceedings. Legally, we do not rule out any approach, although I should emphasise that we want a speedy resolution to the issue. In fact, we expect it to be resolved as quickly as possible.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew), who also mentioned milk, rightly raised the issue of tenant farmers and their particular problems, of which we are well aware. We have regular meetings with the Tenant Farmers Association. The hon. Member for Congleton (Mrs. Winterton) also mentioned milk, which is of course very important to her constituency.
No one is denying that farming, especially in the livestock sector, is in particular difficulty. My hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble (Mr. Borrow) mentioned other sectors, such as horticulture. He also raised the pesticides tax and the climate change levy. We understand that, if such financial measures are introduced, there will be an impact on the industry. We are talking to those in the Treasury about such impacts, which we of course take seriously.
We also recognise the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for South Ribble about small farmers and their needs. Indeed, I recently met members of the Small Farmers Association in the west country, and have invited them to see me in London to talk about some of their concerns and plans.
I was surprised that the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) accused my right hon. Friend the Minister of not delivering very much. My right hon. Friend has negotiated with the Treasury a package that is worth more than £500 million over the next three years. That is new money for the farmers and a very important boost. It involves such things as the rolling over for a second year of the hill livestock compensatory allowance, despite the outgoing Conservative Government making no provision for doing so. We have found that money, which I know is of particular importance to my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, West (Mr. Thomas).
We are aware of the issue on spinal cord and are concerned about it. We have negotiated the possibility of the export of whole carcases to French slaughterhouses. There are limits, from which we want to expand.
The European Commission has made available a 3.5 per cent. contribution to rural development regulation, but I must point out that that is based on historical spending. One of the reasons why we have an unfair contribution is the record of the previous Government and their lack of
spending on rural programmes. We are paying the price of that. I am glad to say, however, that we have managed to agree with the Commission that the contribution will be reviewed. We shall have the chance to make our case for an increase and a fairer contribution toward the rural development programme.
The aid package also absorbs the cost of specified offal removal and the cattle passport scheme.
Several hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Mr. Browne), mentioned agrimonetary compensation. I am pleased to announce that we have just heard that the Commission has approved a package worth £170 million, which is more than we were expecting.
Mr. Gareth Thomas:
I am glad that the Minister accepts my case that rural development regulation is seriously underfunded. He has gone some way to giving assurances on that. On the second point that I raised, does he concede that it would be possible directly to shift money from price subsidies to RDR?
Mr. Morley:
My hon. Friend is talking about modulation. We have consulted on modulation regarding the Agenda 2000 package to farmers and we are giving thought to the operation of modulation and how we can put extra money into the rural development package. That includes schemes such as agri-environment programmes, which are very popular with farmers, and which I know that they want increased.
In addition to that new money, considerable resources--nearly £3 billion in total--are going into the agricultural sector. About £700 million is going to upland livestock. Of course, £4 billion is being spent to meet the cost of BSE measures. I know that hon. Members do not like it, but we inherited that problem. It is a shadow cast over the whole livestock industry and is the root of many of its problems.
Nevertheless, the beef ban has been lifted. The French position is inexcusable; they are wrong, and they are isolated. The news on sewage sludge adds insult to injury, although the allegation received widespread publicity in June. I do not know why the hon. Member for South Suffolk did not notice that. In fact, the report followed from the news in June, and the Commission has been investigating the matter. The report said that the practice was not widespread but that it was illegal and unacceptable. However, as we have heard from my right hon. Friend the Minister, it does not give us a legal basis to ban meat. A trade war is not in our interests. I fail to understand why the Conservative party seems to think that the way to deal with those who are acting illegally is--[Interruption.]
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. The hon. Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray) is shouting across the Floor. He must not do that. Mr. Gray, you seem to be very guilty of speaking while you are sitting there, on the Benches. You should not do that.
Mr. Morley:
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I fail to understand why Opposition Members think that acting illegally ourselves is the right response to the fact that France is acting illegally. I am glad that several hon.
Members, such as my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Mr. Blizzard) and the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Mr. Luff), agreed with me on that, as did the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry), in a very sensible speech. The Conservative party's chances of being electable are limited as long as people of the quality of the right hon. Gentleman are kept off the Front Bench because of the party's extreme policies. [Interruption.] I am just trying to help the chances of the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
It was also said that Conservative Members were trying to out-Sun The Sun in their arguments for a trade war and a beef ban. They are much more extreme than The Sun; whose editorial opposes a trade ban and has supported the Government position. I was also pleased to see that this week "White Van Man", which I of course read assiduously, has been replaced by a guest, "White Tractor Man", who has given his full support to the position of the Government and my right hon. Friend the Minister. It seems that Conservative Members cannot even be in tune with the popular opinion of The Sun, which has never been slow in putting its finger on the issue.
The pig and poultry sector is in real trouble. However, there is support. There is an extra £5 million for marketing in addition to the £1 million already made available. That is very important to that sector, which we very much wanted to help.
We are considering the issue of meat and bonemeal, which is a burden on the industry. As my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Mr. Todd) and the hon. Members for Beverley and Holderness (Mr. Cran) and for West Tyrone (Mr. Thompson) said, labelling will certainly help. Our pig industry was obtaining a significant price premium, and marketing can help to improve those prices.
I am also very pleased about the £10 million to be spent on organics. That is very important. Members have asked about those who are in the process of conversion. We were going to deal with those hard cases even before the £10 million was announced. Our policy has been a great success.
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham, Deptford (Joan Ruddock) for the campaign that she has been running. It is important, and the targets are important. I believe that we shall discuss targets further because it is important to ensure that we meet the demands of the marketplace without setting an arbitrary target that is too high or too low.
It has been a good debate, in which hon. Members have advanced a strong case on behalf of those whom they represent. However, I was sorry about one thing. My right hon. Friend the Minister invited the hon. Member for South Suffolk to join him in a joint campaign. That invitation was rejected by the hon. Gentleman, who was more interested in making partisan points than in addressing the needs of British farmers. That will be recognised by farmers, as will the hypocrisy of an Opposition who demand labelling, yet voted against it when they had an opportunity to introduce it, and who criticise the French for illegal action, yet propose illegal action themselves. The farmers will notice who represents their interests.
It being Seven o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |