§ 10. Mr Jayasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether 1463 he will give an assurance that the Intervention Board will in no circumstatnces render food unfit for human consumption.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartNo, Sir.
§ Mr. JayIf the Government cannot give that assurance, how can they pretend that they are not responsible for rising food prices, when they are deliberately setting up an Intervention Board whose sole purpose is to keep prices up by taking supplies off the market?
§ Mr. StodartThere is absolutely nothing new in rendering food unfit for human consumption. The Labour Government did it nearly every year.
§ Mr. Charles MorrisonIt would appear that the knowledge of agriculture possessed by the right hon. Member for Battersea, North (Mr. Jay) is so minute that he does not know that much of the grain produced in this country has always been used for animal feedingstuffs. Can my hon. Friend give an assurance that fish oil and dye will have no ill effects on those who purchase meat which has been treated by grain products?
§ Mr. StodartYes, Sir, I can.
§ Mr. BuchanI presume the hon. Gentleman is saying that in future we shall not be able to see any purple cows. Surely he is wrong to say that this position has always prevailed. He is presumably referring to potatoes, and no doubt will agree that in the past the potato acreage planting was tightly controlled and that the removal from human consumption factor had a lot to do with transport problems. Will he further agree that what we are now facing is a deliberate removal of food for human consumption in order to put up the price as an exercise in Common Market merchandising?
§ Mr. StodartNot for the first time I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman in all he says. This has not been confined to potatoes. Sugar has also been affected and deliberately denatured by the Labour Government and by other Governments for certain purposes. This is a different method of supporting the agricultural market from methods previously followed.