§ 15. Mr. Pardoeasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection by what percentage imported food prices have risen in the past 12 months; and if she will estimate what proportion of this was due to Great Britain's membership of the EEC.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsOver the most recent period of 12 months for which figures are available—December 1972 to December 1973—prices of imported food and feeding stuffs rose on average by 42 per cent. It is not possible to estimate precisely the proportion of this due to membership of the EEC, but the overall effect of membership on United Kingdom food prices is currently estimated at between ½ and 1 per cent.
§ Mr. PardoeIs the right hon. Lady aware that that answer will be deeply unsatisfactory to her right hon. and hon. Friends? Would she care to estimate, within the facts available to her Department, whether the rise in the cost of imported foodstuffs is likely to be greater in the next 12 months than in the past 12 months?
§ Mrs. WilliamsWith regard to the first part of his question the hon. Gentleman has got it wrong, because the statistics I have given can in no way give an indication of what would happen if world prices were to fall. The hon. Gentleman knows my views on the Common Market, but I am bound to say that if there were any fall in world prices it would not be reflected in the Common Market, because of the curious ratchet mechanism involved in the common agricultural policy. With regard to the second part of the hon. Gentleman's question, I do not pretend to be able to predict the course of world prices over the next year. I do not intend to share the over-optimism of the previous Government in expecting them each week to fall the week after.
§ Mr. MartenHas the right hon. Lady checked the figures and checked how they were arrived at for part of her answer? It seems singularly similar to the one given by her predecessor. Is she aware that the previous Government refused to disclose to Parliament how they arrived at that figure? Can she do better than that and tell us how the figure is arrived at?
§ Mrs. WilliamsIt is arrived at by taking the difference between port and farm-gate prices in the United Kingdom and then comparing it with world prices, after taking account of the effect of EEC membership. What no one can calculate, however objective he tries to be, is the effect of the diversion to other markets of the foodstuffs of certain of our traditional suppliers. I cannot settle that argument, which is likely to continue between hon. Members on both sides of the House.