§ 1. Sir Anthony Meyerasked the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received from farmers' organisations in Wales calling for an end to the common agricultural policy.
§ Sir Anthony MeyerDoes my right hon. Friend agree that, without the protection afforded by the framework of the common agricultural policy, Welsh farmers would be at the mercy, alternatively, of demands from the Labour party for cheap food from wherever it could be bought, and of pressure from the Treasury to make short-term economies in current expenditure, whatever the damage to long-term interests might be?
§ Mr. EdwardsI agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of European assistance to our agriculture industry, particularly when the settlement has put about £325 million in a full year into British agriculture. There may be Treasury intransigence under Labour Governments, but that cannot be said of Treasury Ministers of the present Administration in a year in which there has been a substantial financial injection into horticulture and in which the hill livestock compensatory grants have been increased.
§ Mr. Geraint HowellsDoes the Secretary of State not agree that it is better to reform the common agricultural policy than to abolish it?
§ Mr. EdwardsI am sure that we all agree about the need for further reform and welcome the fact that the total share of the European budget taken by the CAP as well as the British contribution to it has been reduced this year. 466 I am sure that we all want the reform of the CAP to continue, while accepting its fundamental importance to the health of British agriculture.
§ Mr. Roy HughesIs it not true that farmers over the years have not been particularly wise in their political judgment, as their blanket support for the Conservative Party seems to demonstrate? Is it not time that they realised that the agriculture support system introduced by the post-war Labour Government was far more satisfactory all round? Shall we not have to get back to that system, once a Labour Government take Britain out of the Common Market?
§ Mr. EdwardsThe Labour Party spokesman for agriculture appeared to threaten the whole system of grants for agriculture the other day, so the agriculture sector generally seems to have been wise in its political judgment.
§ Mr. BestThe hon. Member for Newport (Mr. Hughes) clearly has few farmers in his constituency because he does not appear to speak with authority on their behalf. Does not my right hon. Friend agree that Welsh farmers also benefit greatly from the less-favoured area status in the EEC, a status which my farmers in Anglesey hope will come to them at some stage?
§ Mr. EdwardsMy hon. Friend has been assiduous in his representations on behalf of Anglesey farmers in that connection. I have already told him that Anglesey will be carefully considered in the review of the less-favoured area status in Wales.
§ Mr. D. E. ThomasDoes not the Secretary of State accept that many farmers are critical of the intervention scheme and would prefer the same scheme to operate for beef as for lamb, since that system is far nearer to the old British system?
§ Mr. EdwardsNo doubt farmers have different opinions about different schemes, as on other issues, but I am sure that they all welcomed the continuation of the beef premium scheme, which is so important for that sector. That scheme, with the better assistance and the lamb premium scheme, provides £300 million of direct benefits for the British consumer. That should not be overlooked.
§ Dr. Roger ThomasIs not the main thrust of farmer representation the refusal by Britain to emulate the national stance on agriculture taken by other member States? For example, have not the French subsidised by 50 per cent. turkeys sold in Britain at 36p per pound?
§ Mr. EdwardsThe Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has made the strongest possible representations to the Commission about that scheme and the Commission is examining it.