§ Mr. MoateWith your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I beg leave to present a Petition. I do so on behalf of the British Housewives' League, which expresses its opposition to the policy of higher food prices which would result from Britain's entry into the Common Market.
This humble Petition showeth:
That it has been the policy of British Governments since 1846 to keep food prices down and the price support scheme was devised to this end. This costs the taxpayer £6.29 a head a year in the United Kingdom. The Common Agricultural Policy is designed to keep prices up, yet the cost to the taxpayer in the European Economic Community . is £16.45 per head a year.Wherefore your Petitioners pray that the housewives of our country shall not be subjected to the higher prices and higher taxation consequent on accession to the Treaty of Rome.And your Petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, etc.To lie upon the Table.