§ 11. Mr. Dalyellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has now received from agricultural interests on British Standard Time; and what reply he has sent.
§ 17. Mr. Monroasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has had from the agricultural industry regarding British Standard Time.
§ 20. Mr. Dudley Smithasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the number of representations he has received from farmers and farming organisations about the continuance of British Standard Time; and what conclusions he has reached.
§ 28. Mr. John Farrasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the agricultural industry regarding the British Standard Time experiment; and what action he is taking.
§ Mr. John MackieMy right hon. Friend has read comments in the farming Press and is aware that the National Farmers' Union is undertaking a review, 464 in consultation with its branches, but the only formal representations he has received since British Standard Time began have been from the hon. Member for Chigwell (Mr. Biggs-Davison) on behalf of an organisation in his constituency. I have nothing to add to the various Answers given by my right hon. Friends before Christmas.
§ Mr. DalyellHave the Government yet made any assessment of the effectts of frost, even in a fairly mild winter, in causing later work starts and consequent increases in production costs?
§ Mr. MackieNo. There is the same amount of frost whether the time is an hour forward or an hour backward.
§ Mr. MonroWill the Minister agree, when he is advising his right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, that it is not entirely a matter of statistics? Will he emphasise the misery of the long dark mornings and realise that it is quite impossible to do any work before 9.30 a.m. at the present time?
§ Mr. MackieThere is a considerable difference of opinion—as the hon. Member knows, I move about among the agricultural community a good deal—as to whether a long dark morning or a long dark night is the more miserable.
§ Mr. FarrIs not the Minister aware of the special case of farmers engaged purely on arable work, who cannot put their employees to looking after stock in the early hours of the morning? They are in considerable difficulty.
§ Mr. MackieI do not think they are. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] I might point out to hon. Members opposite that I am probably the only Member who has had his Wellington boots on this morning. The question of arable farming is, I admit, different from stock farming, but we all have lights on tractors nowadays. A lot of us plough at night from choice, and an extra half hour or hour doing it in the morning does not seem to make a lot of difference.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithIs not the best possible reason for abandoning the experiment the fact that the farming community in particular and the public in general dislike B.S.T. intensely? Is not this a profligate waste of agricultural working hours in the morning?
§ Mr. MackieAs the hon. Member knows, it is an experiment for a period of three years. As I said in my Answer, the N.F.U. is making a survey of the situation and, naturally, we will pay attention to all these things in due course.
§ Mr. StodartHas any calculation or assessment been made of any additional costs that may have been incurred in this experiment? Secondly, when the review which has been promised is made at the end of March or April this year, will the hon. Gentleman, in any advice he gives on the agricultural situation, take into account the feelings of farmers north of the Border?
§ Mr. MackieYes. We have made inquiries and find that, so far, the cost has been negligible. If the hon. Member means by the review the price review, it is not a review of working conditions. We will, however, take into consideration at the review anything that is said by the farming community.