§ 6. Mr. Hunterasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement giving details of his proposals to reform the common agricultural policy.
§ Mr. MacGregorI shall promote measures that are fundamental to the interests of British farmers. This must include the reduction of surpluses and their associated budgetary costs, and increased market influence in the operation of the CAP. I shall also support complementary measures widening the range of opportunities open to farmers and helping to develop the rural economy generally.
§ Mr. HunterWhile awarding my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister 10 out of 10 for her performance in Brussels, rather than the eight out of 10 reluctantly conceded to her yesterday by an Opposition Member, may I ask my right hon. Friend whether he has seen an article in today's edition of The Times, headed
EEC package puts up UK food prices"?The article speaks of a costly package making nonsense of British attempts to control EC spending. Will my right hon. Friend take the opportunity to comment on the accuracy or otherwise of that report?
§ Mr. MacGregorI am grateful to my hon. Friend. I was somewhat surprised by the report in The Times, both because it gave prominence to one of the most insubstantial parts of the package and also because it gave a very inaccurate impression. The plain fact is that the effect of this package on food prices is minimal. It is less than one tenth of 1 per cent. on the retail prices index. It is interesting to reflect on the fact that the overall effect on food prices will be less for a family of four than the price of a small bar of chocolate per week. That puts it in context.
§ Mr. MaddenHas the Minister seen the calculation that if surplus grain were to be placed in a plastic tube a foot wide it would go round the globe more than 600 times? Do not the CAP food surpluses represent a grotesque obscenity in a world where children are starving to death every second? Does it not also represent a major burden on both British consumers and other consumers? Is this not the time for dramatic action to deal with the waste of the CAP instead of making further empty gestures about reforming an archaic institution which the Minister, and others before him, have been trying in vain to reform for years and years?
§ Mr. MacGregorTo answer all the hon. Gentleman's questions would require a lengthy debate. Yes, I agree that we have to deal with the grain surpluses, and important steps have been taken in this price package. The average support level for cereals will be reduced by about 10 per cent. It is not just a European problem; it is a worldwide problem. There are big surpluses elsewhere. India and China are now exporting cereals. Therefore, the problem must be dealt with on an international basis, hence the importance of the GATT talks. It would not be fair to British farmers to achieve complete containment when others continue to produce substantial surpluses and sell them on the world market.
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonDoes my right hon. Friend accept that, overall, the British farmer makes very little contribution to EEC surpluses and that if any surpluses 616 accrue from this country they accrue mainly from cereal farmers, not from dairy farmers? In any reform that he is envisaging for the CAP, will my right hon. Friend give serious consideration to the position of the small dairy farmer, who is vital to so many parts of the rural community? Dairy farmers are a binding feature of the rural community. Without them, there would be nobody to manage our countryside.
§ Mr. MacGregorWe have given serious consideration, and we shall continue to do so, to the position of the small farmer, including the small dairy farmer. However, my hon. Friend is deluding himself if he thinks that we are not contributing to the surpluses and to the costs. We have to accept that we are making a contribution to the cereals surplus and also to the substantial supplies of butter and skimmed milk powder that are held in intervention stores.
§ Mr. JohnThe Minister has told us about his aims but not about his proposals for the reduction and the eventual disappearance of surpluses. Does he favour price reduction, set-aside, quotas or a two-tier price system? Will he consider setting out in a White Paper his proposals for the negotiation of the disappearance of these surpluses.
§ Mr. MacGregorYesterday the hon. Gentleman called for a debate, and if there is to be a debate that might be the appropriate time to go into all these matters. Yes, I believe that there needs to be price restraint; yes, I believe that set aside, in some form or another, will have a part to play, and we are pursuing that aim; and no, I do not believe in two-tier pricing policies of the kind produced by the alliance, as they would be inimical to British farming interests. Earlier this year we published a major document that set out the broad outlines of our policy.