§ 7. Mr. Charles Morrisonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the future of the lime subsidy after July 1974.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartI would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Mr. Fan) on 28th November.—[Vol. 847, c. 92.]
§ Mr. MorrisonMy hon. Friend will acknowledge that that reply refers to the situation in the light of the 1973 Price Review whereas my Question refers to the lime subsidy after the present scheme runs out in July 1974. Will he undertake to make a statement as soon as he can about the future of the subsidy after that date, because the present uncertainty is creating a great deal of worry in the industry, not least about capital investment for the future?
§ Mr. StodartMy hon. Friend is right when he suggests that the present scheme cannot continue after 31st July 1974 without being renewed. It has always been a fact that it could be ended before then, because it is always a Price Review item. Therefore, there is nothing new about the situation. I cannot make a 1103 statement yet about the post-1974 position.
Mr. Mark HughesDoes the Minister agree that, in the light of the correspondence with Lord Cooper, to hold any Price Review with agriculture is clearly using the industry very differently from the way in which industrial workers in the public sector are being used?
§ Mr. StodartNo, Sir.
§ Mr. StodartThe right hon. Gentleman had better wait and see.