Common Agricultural Policy (Hansard, 21 February 1991)

§ 1. Mr. Burns
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what are his objectives to be achieved in any reform of the CAP.

§ The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. John Gummer)
Any reform of the common agricultural policy should make European Community agriculture more market-oriented, reduce budget costs, lead to closer integration between agricultural and environmental policies, and apply fairly throughout the Community.

§ Mr. Burns
On behalf of farmers in Chelmsford, may I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his forthright rejection of proposals that meet none of those criteria and that place British farmers at an unfair disadvantage compared with European farmers? Will my right hon. Friend contrast his robust defence of British farming interests with the craven attitude of the Liberal party, the leader of which is reported to have said——

§ Mr. Speaker
No, these are questions to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

§ Mr. Burns
Will my right hon. Friend fully elaborate on his robust defence of British farming interests and tell the House that he will never accuse British farmers of "whingeing" and that he will not allow British farmers to be placed at a disadvantage compared with small European farmers?

§ Mr. Gummer
I thank my hon. Friend for his kind remarks. This is a battle which must be fought on behalf of the farming community throughout the United Kingdom. I believe that what farmers are saying about their present position and the damage that the current proposals would do is absolutely true. I deplore suggestions that they are in any way "whingeing" and I am sorry that the word was used by the leader of the Liberal party.

§ Mr. Duffy
Will the Minister assure the House that the internal logic of the CAP, which has driven us for so long to the destruction of wetlands, moorland, woodlands and birdlife, has been arrested and, preferably, put into reverse?

§ Mr. Gummer
The hon. Gentleman's comments are perhaps a little sweeping. The internal power of the CAP ensured that the European Community ceased to fear hunger and could feed its people. That is a great achievement. I support the hon. Gentleman's view that, today, in a world of surplus, our environmental policies should be integrated with our agricultural policies. That is one of the basic principles that I enunciated earlier.

§ Mr. Favell
My right hon. Friend may know that this is the 150th anniversary of the election to the House of that greatest of free traders, the anti-corn law campaigner, Richard Cobden. Does he agree that a wonderful way to 419 celebrate that event would be to rid ourselves of the 20th century equivalent of the corn laws, the common agricultural policy?

§ Mr. Gummer
If my hon. Friend were to read Richard Cobden's views more closely, he would discover that he does not adhere to many of them. It would not help farmers, environmentalists or citizens of Britain to destroy our countryside by not ensuring a reasonable livelihood for those who look after it—the farmers.

§ Mr. Geraint Howells
I do not wish to make a political point——

§ Mr. Cryer
Fancy doing that in here—[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order.

§ Mr. Howells
In view of the crisis currently facing British agriculturists, what advice would the Minister give to young farmers who want to enter the industry today?

§ Mr. Gummer
My first advice is that they should support the Government's recent proposals, which would make it easier for land to be available to let. Secondly, I hope that if they enter farming, they will set out to produce goods that the public want and to narrow the gap between imports and exports of food products which was graphically exposed yesterday by Food From Britain. Thirdly, there will be a difficult time ahead because we are in a world of surplus for those who can afford it, but in such a world there will always be a place for the specialist, efficient producer who produces what the public want and at a price that they can afford.

§ 2. Mr. Gill
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what reforms of the CAP he will propose to improve the prospects of closing the trade gap in food and drink products.

§ Mr. Gummer
We have to take every opportunity to ensure that the reform of the CAP enables British farmers to improve their marketing and their share of the whole European market.

§ Mr. Gill
My right hon. Friend has already referred to this morning's announcement that the trade deficit in food and drink products has widened. Will he take an early opportunity to discuss with the chairman of Food From Britain how that trend could be reversed? In those discussions, will he consider how the French have apparently managed to do the opposite during the past 12 years, by creating a surplus in food and drink profits which is equivalent to the deficit that we are experiencing?

§ Mr. Gummer
I thank my hon. Friend for referring to Food From Britain. Since taking over that body, its dynamic chairman, Paul Judge, has concentrated on precisely that issue, which is an important aspect of British farming and British food production. We should have a major campaign to ensure that people realise that in choosing food, there is a remarkable range of extremely good products from this country. I do not want anyone to buy British merely because it is British but because it is the best. In whole areas of food production, British is best. I remind you, Mr. Speaker, that if you wish to buy an egg produced under the safest conditions and regulations and with the best in animal welfare, you should buy a British egg and no one else's.

§ Mr. Graham
If the Minister wishes to close the trade gap in food, will he consider a letter that I received from a farmer in my area who is very concerned about the closure of the knackeries? That makes it difficult for farmers to get as much money as they used to get before the advent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

§ Mr. Gummer
The inability to sell fallen stock but to have to pay for it to be taken away has more to do with the fact that the price of tallow, which is the major end product, has been driven down to a third of its original price. The hon. Gentleman does the industry no good by suggesting that the reason for the problems in the knacker and the rendering industries is other than the world problem of a low price for their products.

§ Miss Emma Nicholson
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the consumers' ability to buy British depends on the freest possible market? In that context, does he agree that the reason why the British consumer so often has to buy French cheese or German yoghurt lies in the monopolistic and outdated practices of the milk marketing board? Does he support the milk marketing board's upcoming proposals, which should create a freer market—and not just in whole milk products?

§ Mr. Gummer
I look forward to the milk marketing board's proposals. I agree that it is very difficult to see how British producers can get the best price for their milk or how British manufacturers can get the best part of the market for their manufactured products unless the system, which was designed for wholly different circumstances, is changed. If not, British producers will be supplying the end of the market that produces the least money while the top end of the market will be provided by products coming from the rest of Europe.

§ Dr. David Clark
On the trade gap, did the Minister see the claim by Safeway supermarkets earlier this week that it had to import 70 items of food which could be grown in Britain because British suppliers could not guarantee quality, consistency or price? If that is true, it is a massive indictment of our agricultural support system. Will the Minister set up an inquiry into that allegation, which has also been made to me from other quarters? It is the reason why we have a massive £5.1 billion deficit in food trade.

§ Mr. Gummer
That question would have come better from the hon. Gentleman had he not advised people to eat New Zealand apples and said that he did not eat British sausages. It would be much easer to take lessons from the hon. Gentleman if he had not spent the past 18 months undermining the British food and farming industries. On that basis, I shall decide what action to take without the benefit of any spurious advice from the hon. Gentleman.