§ 12. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture. Fisheries and Food what proportion of the fat cows and heavy bullocks sold for shipment to the Continent in the past six months have carried subsidy under the fatstock guarantee scheme; what was the total sum so paid; and if he has made an estimate of the steadying effect on fat cattle prices generally of relieving the home market of such heavyweight beasts with the consequent saving in the general payment of fatstock guarantees.
Mr. AmoryI regret I have not the information to give precise figures, but it is estimated that in the six months April to September, 1956, some 20,000 head of cattle were exported, of which perhaps one-third were eligible for guarantee payments, totalling roughly £100,000. There is no means of knowing what the market price would have been without these purchases for export and, therefore, of estimating any overall saving of subsidy, but they undoubtedly had a steadying effect on the markets in which the stock was bought.
§ Mr. HurdHas my right hon. Friend formed his own estimate whether our country has gained or lost by the development of this trade in fat cattle with the Continent?
Mr. AmoryI am satisfied that, to date, the export of these fat cattle has been a benefit to the country.
§ Mr. DyeDoes not the right hon. Gentleman think that if these cattle had been in the Argentine they would have been slaughtered, cooked, put into tins and sent to Great Britain to be consumed? Why should not we do that kind of thing here instead of importing from the Argentine?
§ 13. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by how much the average of market prices for fat cattle fell in the twelve months ended November, 1956; and to what extent his Department's food survey shows a corresponding reduction in retail beef prices.
Mr. AmoryIn the year ended November, 1956, average auction prices of cattle eligible for the guarantee fell from 136s. to 92s. per live cwt. I regret that no comparable information of the retail prices of beef is available from the National Food Survey.
§ Mr. HurdWould not my right hon. Friend agree that it is highly desirable that some comparable information should be published for every housewife to know so that we can all be quite sure that the fall in the price of fat cattle is being adequately reflected in the price of beef in the butchers' shops?
Mr. AmoryI would remind my hon. Friend that he is giving the National Food Survey only six days to produce the information, because he is asking for comparable figures up to 30th November last. But the National Food Survey figures available do not differentiate between home-produced beef and imported beef.
Mr. T. WilliamsSince the fall has been, shall we say, about 33 per cent. between April and November, will the right hon. Gentleman try from now on to get some sort of survey of what fluctuation there has been in prices in the butchers' shops?
Mr. AmoryI do not want to make the National Food Survey too complicated, and it is difficult to know how far to carry the analysis. The figures for the retail price of beef will be available shortly but not at present separately for home-produced and imported beef.
§ Mr. SnowThe right hon. Gentleman says he has had only a few days to get the figures, but surely these facts have been known to the public and the farmers for a very long time? Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it is rare nowadays to find a butcher putting price tickets on individual pieces of meat in his shop?
Mr. AmoryMy reference to six days was to the period for which my hon. Friend asked for information. I hope and believe that the practice of using price tickets is steadly extending among retailers. I should certainly wish it to do so.
§ Mr. CrouchIs my right hon. Friend aware that for several weeks English hindquarters have been cheaper in the London Meat Market than Argentine hindquarters?