Commissioner Gundelach (Hansard, 15 March 1979)

§ 1. Mr. Neubert
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he intends next to meet Commissioner Gundelach of the European Economic Community.

§ The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. John Silkin)
I expect to see Commissioner Gundelach tomorrow in Hull.

§ Mr. Neubert
Is it not clear that whatever else the Minister and his right hon. Friend the Prime Minister brought back from Paris, it was not an agreement to freeze food prices? What constructive steps are the Government taking to achieve that end? Will the Minister confirm that such a policy will make sense only if selectively directed against commodities which are in persistent and excessive surplus?

§ Mr. Silkin
My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister sought to persuade the other European partners of the necessity for a freeze in prices. He may well have done so. The reaction to that in Paris is neither here nor there. It is the reaction in the Agriculture Council which is important. I expect a great deal of difficulty in obtaining a freeze this year. However, we intend to go for it, and we shall go for it. The difficulty lies, always in defining, at any particular moment, what commodities will be in structural surplus some years ahead. It is far better, at a time like this, to go for a common price freeze. I must admit that I might make an exception in the case of silkworms.

§ Mr. Powell
Will the right hon. Gentleman make it clear to the Commission that in this, the third year of a restriction on fishing in the Irish Sea, not only British fishermen generally but those of County Down, both inshore and skiff, deserve, and need, a larger share of the available catch? Is he aware that if he has any trouble from the Commission, or from 675 the European Court, many thousands of fishermen of County Down and of the Mourne will want to know the reason why?

§ Mr. Silkin
I am aware of what the right hon. Gentleman is asking. I had an enjoyable and informative series of meetings in the Province towards the end of last year. I shall certainly do my best, since I shall be attending a fishing conference tomorrow in Hull, to make a number of the points that the right hon. Gentleman has made.

§ Mr. Torney
When my right hon. Friend meets Mr. Gundelach, will he check on the allegation made this lunch-time, I believe, on television or radio, by the right hon. Member for Sidcup (Mr. Heath) to the effect that about £2,400 millions—

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Gentleman must not seek to give information. He must ask a question.

§ Mr. Torney
I shall try to rephrase that, Mr. Speaker. Is my right hon. Friend aware of the allegation made by the right hon. Member for Sidcup on the media this lunchtime to the effect that £2,400 million has been received by Britain from the regional and social development fund since 1972? Does he know whether there is any truth in this allegation, and can be explain the position?

§ Mr. Silkin
I was made aware of what the right hon. Gentleman said. He was speaking in the context of the high payments made by the United Kingdom in the farm budget, and trying to balance one against the other. Fortunately for his argument, he did not give the full figures. If he had done so it might have looked different. We have received £2,400 million since 1972, but we have paid £3,200 million into the farm budget. About two-thirds of that £2,400 million is in the form of loans, and not grants and this has been paid back. The House may see the real sense of this when it is realised that, on the latest figures, the United Kingdom has contributed about £23 million towards support for olive oil, and received £20 million back in the regional and social development fund.

§ Mr. Peyton
That was an interesting diversion. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman. 676 would care to return to the central issue of British agriculture and explain and assess the damage which has been sustained by the agriculture industry as a result of his Government's rotten handling of the economy.

§ Mr. Silkin
I regard the right hon. Member's question as a diversion. The Question is about what I have to say to Commissioner Gundelach. I shall have to discuss with him the issues raised by the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Sidcup (Mr. Heath). That is important. I do not see how the right hon. Gentleman's supplementary question arises from the original Question. It may arise from a later Question.