OATS (SCOTLAND). (Hansard, 18 March 1936)

§ Mr. BOOTHBY
Now that the interests of the sportsmen of England have been fully protected and vindicated, I am sure that hon. Members—even English hon. Members—will forgive me if for a moment or two I direct the attention of my hon. and gallant Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland to a 570 question which I believe to be of much more fundamental importance to Scotland even than the Bill which we have just discussed, that is to say, the question of oats. When I say oats, that carries with it not merely a section of Scotland which may be affected or unaffected by a scheme for creating electrical power. It really involves the whole of Scottish agriculture at the present time. The Secretary of State for Scotland recently stated that he was sorry for those farmers who depended for their cereal crop on oats, in the position in which they find themselves. The Secretary of State for Scotland has no right to be sorry for these farmers who depend for their cereal crop on oats. He ought to put their position right so that he and we may no longer have any need to find ourselves sorry.
571 I want to put one or two facts to my right hon. Friend. In 1931, to use the Secretary of State's phrase, the wheat growers "found themselves" selling wheat at 24s. a quarter. Since then it has remained pretty steady at an average of about 24s. a quarter, but the wheat grower to-day is having his price moved up from 42s. to 45s. per quarter by a deficiency payment. In 1931, the year in which the wheat grower was getting 24s. a quarter, the oat grower was getting between 16s. and 18s. a quarter for his crop, or about 3s. a quarter below the cost of production, to put it at the lowest possible figure. To-day the oat grower is getting 13s. per quarter in Scotland. Since March, 1914, the oat grower has suffered a fall of about 10s. a quarter, and the wheat grower has obtained an increase of 11s. per quarter on his crop. My hon. Friend mentioned that this was through no fault of the wheat grower or the oat grower. There is no question of merit in the matter at all. It is simply a question of Government action. What justice is there in the fact that by Government action the price has been raised to the wheat grower by 11s. and reduced to the oat grower by 10s. a quarter since 1914?
He knows, and the House knows, that there has been in recent months and indeed in recent years a very serious slump in beef prices. What is the result? The result, in Aberdeenshire at any rate, which is perhaps one of the most important centres of beef production in this country, has been not only a reduction of stock carried on the farms, but the substitution of first-rate cattle on many farms throughout the north-east of Scotland by cheaper beasts on which less capital lies. Why? Because in existing circumstances it is absolutely impossible for the farmer in the north of Scotland to make a profit on first-grade cattle with oats at their present prices.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
The hon. Member has told us what the position is and I imagine that he is going to state a remedy. If that is so, I do not see how that can be applied without legislation.

§ Mr. BOOTHBY
I do not know that actual legislation would be necessary. I think a certain amount can be done by administration under various marketing schemes.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
The hon. Member seems to be suggesting a remedy by legislation, in which case he would be out of order on the Motion for tae Adjournment.

§ Mr. BOOTHBY
I have no proposals of a constructive character to offer on this occasion, though on other occasions I shall take the opportunity of doing so. I was simply stating the appalling position of the farmers in north-east Scotland and asking the Under-Secretary whether he had any views on the matter and what steps he proposes to take to remedy the situation. It is for him, rather than for me to suggest remedies. I am not wedded to any particular legislative Measure. I merely wish to know whether the hon. and gallant Gentleman appreciates the gravity of the situation and what proposals the Government have in mind to deal with it. They have not hitherto made any proposals, legislative or administrative or of any other kind. Therefore I am going to put the onus on the Under-Secretary of suggesting what could be done. Obviously, the question of a subsidy is involved. It seems odd that the Government should have chosen wheat and sugar, of which there is a world glut, and given them subsidies—

§ Mr. SPEAKER
Does not that suggest a legislative remedy?

§ Mr. BOOTHBY
It seems unfair that the Government should arbitrarily choose two products which cannot be produced in the north of Scotland—

§ Mr. SPEAKER
That would be out of order.

§ Mr. BOOTHBY
The Secretary of State says he has been considering the matter for two or three years. Whatever the remedy may be, the facts of the situation are desperate. The farmers and farm workers in the north of Scotland are a magnificent set of people and they are being driven by existing conditions, over which they have little control and for which they are not responsible, into ruin and bankruptcy. The Under-Secretary cannot expect us who represent them to stand by and watch that process going on. We are entitled at this stage, and after all the questions and the debates that have taken place in the last two or three years, to ask my hon. and gallant Friend to tell us in plain terms what the views of the Scottish Office are and what steps they propose to take to deal with it.

§ Mr. GALLACHER
May I ask if the Farmers' Union or the Scottish Chamber of Agriculture has yet put in a request for a subsidy and, if they do, what consideration will be given to it?

§ Sir R. W. SMITH
My hon. Friend and neighbour, the hon. Member for East Aberdeen (Mr. Boothby) has raised the question of oats, and I cannot allow the opportunity to pass without saying a few words on the subject. He has sought to, draw the attention of the House to the present position of the Scottish cereal farmers. It is impossible by question and supplementary question to deal with the point and even now, on the Adjournment, only a very small part of the subject can be dealt with. I want to be assured that the question is really being dealt with, and that the gravity of the situation is realised by the Government-I ask hon. Members to realise the serious position of Scotland. The cereal question is getting worse and worse.
We might talk about erasing the cereal position by means of meat, but that is impossible. If you put up the price of meat to meet the cereal position, the price of meat will have to come down again because it would be such that it could not compete with the rest of the market. I should like more support on this question from English and Welsh Members. As long ago as 1932 I recollect a question being put by a, Welsh Member to the then Minister of Agriculture. He asked whether, in formulating proposals with a view to helping agriculture, he would consider the special conditions of the agricultural industry in the counties of North Wales, in view of the fact that no wheat was grown there; and the reply which was given was as follows: I can assure my hon. Friend that, in the framing of agricultural policy, all aspects of the agricultural industry receive full consideration. That reply was given on the 22nd February, 1932, four years ago. We Scotsmen voted in favour of the Wheat Bill in order to help the English farmer and the wheat grower in regard to their cereal crops, because we considered that it was absolutely necessary, and in view of the assurance that we were given by the then Minister of Agriculture that this was the beginning. Those of us who listened to the introduction of the Wheat Bill were given to understand that this 574 was but a step in the agricultural policy. We have been waiting for four years for something to be done for the cereal situation in Scotland. Matters have not improved. The Government tried to improve the situation by means of tariffs. That certainly showed that they were anxious, and felt that the cereal crop should be put on a paying footing. But the effect of tariffs has not been favourable to the cereal crop, and I therefore appeal to the Scottish Office to make a statement as to what is to be done, and to give an assurance that something will be done soon.

§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for SCOTLAND (Lieut. - Colonel Colville)
My hon. Friend the Member for East Aberdeen (Mr. Boothby) said truly that he had no constructive suggestions to make.

§ Mr. BOOTHBY
I have plenty of suggestions, but I could not make them on this Motion.

§ Lieut.-Colonel COLVILLE
He said that he had no constructive suggestions to make to-night, and I am in the position owing to the Rules of the. House, that I cannot go into the details as I should like in answering the points which he has raised. The question of the difficulties with which the farmers in North-East Scotland are faced is well known to the Government, and it is not from any lack of realisation of those difficulties that action has not been taken on the lines which the hon. Member wished, but was unable, to suggest to-night. The reason for the difficulties arises from the reduction in the price of oats. It particularly affects the farmers in that area, because it is the principal cash crop in that area, and they are unable to resort to other crops in the way that farmers in certain other areas have been able to do. The position is made difficult by the fact that they are not the only people that grow oats. The amount of oats grown in the United Kingdom last year was 36,000,000 cwts., of which an important part, but still only a part, was grown in Scotland.
So far as any remedies are concerned, we shall have to take into consideration whether these areas can be dealt with in isolation. The hon. Member will realise that it is difficult to isolate any 575 particular area and deal with it in a special way. A part of the difficulty in dealing with oats is that it is a crop which is not susceptible to assistance from tariffs in the same way as a crop of which we import a great part of our requirements. Ninety per cent. of the total available supplies are produced at home. The import duty on foreign oats of 9s. a quarter has virtually shut out all foreign oats and the margin which is imported is almost entirely from the Empire. Therefore the assistance which can be given to the growers of oats is not comparable to that which can be given in a case where there is a great importation of the product and where one is able to issue regulations regarding imports which are of assistance to growers in this country. I am precluded from going into possible remedies for this situation, but I can assure the hon. Member that the whole problem is under our most active consideration at the present time. Only yesterday afternoon I attended a meeting, where the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Parliamentary Secretary, the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs and the representatives of the Departments were present; and we spent the whole afternoon in examining this particular subject. I can assure the hon. Member that we had before us and were examining with great minuteness and with every desire to bring to a satisfactory conclusion every proposal which would affect the situation.
576 The difficulties cannot be explained by me in this Debate without entering upon possible legislative proposals, and I cannot therefore continue my observations; but before I sit down I would like to assure the hon. Member who raised the point, and the hon. Member for Central Aberdeen (Sir R. W. Smith) that the problem of the growers of oats in the North East of Scotland is one which is very actively before the Government at the present time. In reply to the question put by the hon. Member the Farmers Union of Scotland has asked for a subsidy, but to my knowledge the Chamber of Agriculture has not put forward such a request. I can only say that these things are under consideration, and obviously I cannot give a further answer on that point to-night. The hon. Member may be fully assured that this very difficult and complex subject is under consideration. Even if the lion. Member had by the rules of the Debate been allowed to make constructive suggestions, I doubt whether he would have made any, because for the long period during which he has asked numerous questions about this matter, there have been more questions than suggestions. I assure him that the question is being actively examined by the Government with a view to finding a solution for this difficult problem.
It being Half-past Eleven of the Clock, Mr. SPEAKER adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.