§ 4. Mr. Goochasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why he included in an official letter addressed to Sir James Turner, the President of the National Farmers' Union, on the subject of future Price Reviews, specific permission to the recipient to disclose its contents to whomsoever he thought fit.
Mr. AmorySpecial Reviews are of concern to farmers throughout the country, and I felt that the N.F.U. should be free to pass on the contents of this letter to all those whom it thought might be concerned.
§ Mr. GoochIs the Minister aware that this morning the Executive Committee of the Union of Agricultural Workers passed a resolution in the following terms:
… we are forced to interpret it"—that is, the letter—as an unwarranted intervention on the part of the Minister in the affairs of the Wages Board"?Is he further aware that, in writing the letter, he has incensed both farmers and farm workers? Is he aware that the Executive Committee of the National Farmers' Union in Norwich last Saturday passed a resolution protesting against this letter? Did not one farmer at that meeting refer to his letter as sheer blackmail and a virtual repudiation of the Agriculture Act of 1947?
Mr. AmoryI really would recommend the hon. Member to consult his right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley (Mr. T. Williams), who sent the most specific warnings to the Agricultural Wages Board on one occasion, after an application for a wage increase was received, as to the consequences of any possible action by the board on the chances of recoupment at the next Annual Price Review.
Mr. T. WilliamsWill the Minister say whether the document he has referred to—of which I am not aware, but which must exist—related to a general February Price Review or a Special Review?
Mr. AmoryI referred to the consequences upon recoupment at the next Annual Price Review. It said, I think, that the matter of a Special Price Review was a matter for separate consideration.