§ 21. Mr. Rostasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he proposes to introduce a rationing scheme for English cheese.
§ Mr. BuchanNo, Sir.
§ Mr. RostWhat will the Minister do about the declining production of English cheese, and particularly the quality farmhouse cheeses, such as Derby, Leicestershire and Stilton? Is he aware that we are rapidly getting to a situation in which it is necessary to go to a supermarket to buy foreign cheese—which is subsidised and which is flooding into the country—and to a delicatessen store to buy good quality English cheeses?
§ Mr. BuchanI welcome the hon. Gentleman's advertising of his own home products. There is really no problem other than that of advertising.
§ Mr. BodyIs there any sense in continuing the high levy of £200 a ton upon cheese from New Zealand and Canada?
§ Mr. BuchanI am the last person who should be blamed for that levy. That remark should be directed at the hon. Gentleman's Front Bench colleagues and their supporters. Such a levy does affect our prices. That is one reason for my right hon. Friend's saying throughout Question Time, that he is hell-bent on renegotiaiting into sense some of the worst excesses of the common agricultural policy.