Sheep (Hansard, 8 May 1986)

§ 6. Mr. Alex Carlile
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is satisfied with the present state of the sheep industry; and if he will make a statement.

§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. John Selwyn Gummer)
The sheep sector is relatively profitable and I consider that producers should remain confident. We derive considerable benefits from the EC sheepmeat regime, and these will continue following the recent CAP price settlement.

§ Mr. Carlile
Is the Minister aware that, for sheep farmers in Wales, the fodder compensation scheme has failed to mitigate the consequences of last year's disastrous summer? Is he further aware that many fair-minded farmers feel that it has discriminated unfairly against them when they see their neighbours receiving compensation in precisely the same circumstances? Does he agree that the attitude of some banks, which charge many farmers as much as 3 per cent. above the base rate, is doing great damage to the sheep industry?

§ Mr. Gummer
It is true that if one tries to provide specific help for those in particular need one has to draw lines, and that means that people on the wrong side of the line find it unacceptable. The hon. Gentleman has made that point before. I do not think that it could have been done more fairly. I know he will accept that it is better to try to give the aid where it is needed than to provide blanket aid across the country. As for the hon. Gentleman's comment on the banks, one cannot comment on a general statement of that kind. In many cases the banks have been extremely helpful.

§ Mr. McQuarrie
My right hon. Friend should be aware that there is considerable disquiet in the sheep sector of the industry at the possibility that, if there are quotas on cereals and producers go out of production, they may well move into the sheep sector, causing considerable problems there. In the light of the excellent result achieved by my right hon. Friend in the EEC last week, despite what the hon. and learned Member for Montgomery (Mr. Carlile) said—the sheep sector welcomed the achievement—we do not want to see over-production in the sheep sector as in the cereal sector.

§ Mr. Gummer
My hon. Friend is right, and that is one of the reasons why the concept of quotas has its major disadvantages. We have to remind the House that in the price settlement we achieved the things that we sought. We got rid of the discriminatory proposals on flock sizes and stopped the proposed merger of Northern Ireland with the Republic into one region. As a result of the changes in the MCAs we have given an increase in the basic sheepmeat price. That means that there is considerable benefit for that part of the industry.

§ Sir Paul Hawkins
I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the bargain he reached in Brussels over the sheepmeat regime. Will he please draw attention to the fact that the sheepmeat industry is probably one of the most profitable farming sectors at present?

§ Mr. Gummer
The sheepmeat industry provides a real reason for confidence in the future for those working in it. The industry faces a number of problems and we have to keep that closely in mind. However, I do not think that the industry is helped by the constant doom which we hear from the Liberal and Social Democratic parties.

§ Mr. Campbell-Savours
To what extent have the sheep rearing higher land areas of the United Kingdom been affected by the fallout from Chernobyl? When the NRPB said today that the levels of fallout were 100 times higher at the weekend than today, where was it referring to? We were never given those figures. That may not be a departmental responsibility of the Minister, but, in so far as he has responsibility for agriculture, especially the sheep industry, will he look at that matter?

§ Mr. Gummer
The second part of the hon. Gentleman's question is a matter for the Department of the Environment, and I shall see that his points are raised with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. On the first part of the hon. Gentleman's question, there are two ways in which we do no service to the public in this matter. The first is to cover up what has happened, as the Russians did, and the other is to spread alarm and despondency when it is entirely unnecessary.