HC Deb 20 January 1977 vol 924 cc621-3
7. Mr. Dykes

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what adjustments he now proposes to make in the valuation of the green pound in consultation with his colleagues in the EEC Agriculture Council.

The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. E. S. Bishop)

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, Central (Mr. Hamilton) on 13th January 1977. As was made clear then, the Commission's proposal for a 4.5 per cent. devaluation of the green pound remains on the table but we do not consider now to be an appropriate time to make such a change.

Mr. Dykes

Does not that mean that the change will come perhaps a little later? While appreciating that the interests of consumers have to come first, may I ask whether it is not rather dishonest of the Minister and his right hon. Friend to maintain that they will not make any changes at all when at least a marginal change along these lines to start with, and perhaps something else afterwards, is inevitable? There is a ground swell of legitimate anger in Germany that the overall cost that it is now contributing to the Community has gone up last year from 7 billion to 12 billion deutschemarks.

Mr. Bishop

I wish that hon. Gentlemen opposite, and many people outside, would get this matter in perspective. They seem to talk about the green pound and Community aid as though they were charities. The facts are rather different. Is it a charity when the United Kingdom will be paying one-fifth of the whole Community budget this year? It is not a charity when the United Kingdom pays through mcas into the pockets of the European agricultural exporters to help them dispose of their products. It is not charity when we pay money towards facilities from many of which we receive very little benefit. The hon. Gentleman and his hon. Friends should look at the matter in perspective and not in a one-sided way.

Mrs. Dunwoody

Does my hon. Friend accept that it would not be in the interests of the British farmer if we were to allow automatic realignments of the green pound? Will he resist strongly any attempt to take this decision out of the hands of the Council of Ministers and make it into machinery that works automatically irrespective of the interests of member States?

Mr. Bishop

My right hon. Friend has taken a robust stand on this, as on other things. We have made clear already the effect of automatic changes. Basically changes, where necessary, should be carefully timed. We have not been doctrinaire. My hon. Friend is right in saying that this is a matter which is many-sided, and it does not always help the farmer because, for example, of the increased cost of feedstuffs when changes are made.

Mr. Jopling

Is the Minister aware that many of us were alarmed when we heard the Miinster call in aid a policy which is providing an increasing market in this country for producers in the remainder of the Community? Is the hon. Gentleman intent on giving away all our home food market to European producers? When will this stop, and how does this line up with the Government's own White Paper "Food from Our Own Resources"?

Mr. Bishop

The hon. Gentleman has either a short memory or bad hearing. I rather thought he was cheering, in a disguised way, the statement made by my right hon. Friend about pigmeat. That is another situation where exporters from abroad, with mca help, can dispose of their products in a way that is not always helpful to our producers.

21. Mr. Shepherd

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present disparity between the green and market rate of the £ sterling.

Mr. Bishop

The monetary compensatory amount percentage is now 36.9, based on a gap between the representative rate and the market rate used for this purpose of 38.4 per cent.

Mr. Shepherd

Having regard to all aspects of the Minister's departmental remit, is he fully satisfied, and, if so, why?

Mr. Bishop

As I explained in reply to the earlier Question, this matter is under review all the time in relation to the situation facing the producer and also the consumer.

Mr. Corbett

Is not my hon. Friend aware that a bigger problem, apart from the revaluation of the green pound, is the total shambles of the common agricultural policy? Is it not towards the sensible reformation of it or its complete abandonment that the Government's main efforts should be directed?

Mr. Bishop

My hon. Friend will recognise that the facility of the green pound is one that we inherited when we entered the Market and that it is very important that we should ensure its use until some other fundamental change can be made, with the interests of the consumer and of the producer in mind.

Mr. Watt

Does not the Minister agree that the best way of getting rid of this disparity and of ensuring continuity in the supply of food, while at the same time giving some return of confidence to the British producer, would be to allow a devaluation of 1 per cent. per month?

Mr. Bishop

I have already replied to a Question about automatice revaluation. The timing is fundamental to this, and we should make changes in the value of the green pound only in relation to the national interest. Incidentally, a 4½ per cent. devaluation along the lines proposed at present by the Commission would add another 1 per cent. to food prices. It is very important that we keep in mind the policy of monetary restraint at present.