British Beef (Hansard, 30 July 1998)

§ 5. Mr. James Gray (North Wiltshire)
What measures he is taking to promote the sale of British beef. [51689]

§ The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Nick Brown)
The Government have continued to support various initiatives to help to promote the sale of beef. As a result, there has been a significant increase in beef consumption and, in the first four months of this year, a substantial increase in the United Kingdom share of the domestic market.

§ Mr. Gray
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his new position. I hope that he will forgive me for adding a slightly discordant note when I say that I hope that he will show more interest in and concern for the beef industry and beef producers than his predecessor did, and that he will find the way from the Smoking Room to the Chamber for important debates.
The beef industry is deeply disappointed by the lack of progress towards lifting the ban, despite the Government's constant boasts about their Euro credentials. Assuming that the ban is eventually lifted, will the right hon. Gentleman give mainland farmers the same help, on a pro rata basis, that he recently gave Northern Ireland farmers? He gave them £2 million to help with their marketing abroad; pro rata, that would work out at about £11 million for the mainland. Will he undertake to give the same help to mainland farmers?

§ Mr. Brown
I thank the hon. Gentleman for welcoming me to my job, but I cannot accept what he said about my predecessor. Only as a result of my predecessor's efforts was I able to make an important announcement yesterday about a further step that we are taking to ensure that we can get British beef sales back in the European Union. I did not make the decision—it would be nice to claim the credit after 48 hours in the Ministry—and the momentum was entirely due to my predecessor's hard work and consistent negotiating skills. I pay tribute to him.
The £2 million spent in Northern Ireland was a one-off payment related to the peace process and not support for the industry in the United Kingdom.

§ Charlotte Atkins (Staffordshire, Moorlands)
How much has been paid to fanners under the present Government, and how much agrimonetary compensation did the previous Government pay?

§ Mr. Brown
The answer to the latter part of the question is none. The figure for total payments is huge, and the vast majority of it is driven by the Government's endeavours to eliminate BSE.

§ Mr. Charles Kennedy (Ross, Skye and Inverness, West)
Does the Minister agree that the promotion of the 518 sale of beef is primarily a question of confidence; that great strides have been made domestically in the re-establishment—and indeed, in some cases, the extension—of consumer confidence; and that it is vital for that to be extended beyond these shores? I welcome him to his post, in which he has inherited a problem about which it may not be too late to do something. The producer confidence of British farming would be greatly assisted if he reconsidered the statement of aims agreed by his predecessor, which rightly mentions the environment and conservation, but does not mention the word "farming". It is coupled with a set of figures that represent a phasing out of support for some of the most fragile parts of the beef-producing sector of the UK economy, which would be of no great help towards the lifting of the ban in the longer term.

§ Mr. Brown
I regard the lifting of the beef ban as a top priority for me and for the Ministry. I assure the hon. Gentleman that I take it very seriously. His point about confidence was also right; I accept that I have a duty to set a lead. Yesterday, I went to Asda to look at its display of British beef—[Interruption.] I am trying to make this answer an all-party effort by including both the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mr. Norman), who is the Conservative Member most connected with Asda, although he is not here. [HON. MEMBERS: "He's writing out redundancies."] I know. He is writing them out at Conservative central office. I will do what I can to set a lead, and to support the British beef industry.

§ Mr. Dennis Skinner (Bolsover)
Is my right hon. Friend aware that those of us who sit on the bank of seats below the Gangway have just had a quick check, and even we have decided that, after only 48 hours, we cannot blame the new Minister for what has happened with BSE? He may have sent us some nasty letters from time to time, but we cannot blame him for BSE. Does he agree that the real blame for the billions of pounds that the British taxpayer has had to spend on BSE arises entirely from the Conservatives' total and utter neglect when they were in government? That money could have been spent on the national health service and schools, which would have made farmers themselves better off.

§ Mr. Brown
In view of our relationship when I was in my previous job, I am grateful to my hon. Friend for not blaming me. Of course the money could have been better spent. No one wanted to get into the position we are in, and, although some good may come of it for the future, the cost of getting out of it has been enormous. I am grateful, too, to my hon. Friend for not asking me to divert the subsidy into the mining industry, but I suppose that that will come.

§ Mr. James Paice (South-East Cambridgeshire)
May I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his new duties? If he is in any doubt about the need to rekindle confidence in his Government among farmers, he need only step outside London to meet them. They lost all confidence during the term of office of his predecessor.
The beef market is affected not only by BSE, but, possibly seriously, by tuberculosis. Herd outbreaks have increased by 30 per cent. over the past year, which is causing concern about our notional status of being free of 519 TB. The right hon. Gentleman has just received the report of the expert group. Will he ensure that there is no further delay in implementing the Krebs recommendations? Will he consider levels of compensation for fanners who currently see no help coming for the five years of the study?
Will he ask the expert group to consider movement restrictions on farms that break down to see whether all of them are needed? Krebs did not consider that, but I ask the Minister to request that the group does so. As the right hon. Gentleman has decided to end the calf processing scheme, farmers producing calves will need to rear them if they have a breakdown, because they will not otherwise be able to dispose of them.

§ Mr. Brown
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his welcome to me. Some political issues divide the parties, but where there is a clear national interest, and where it is possible for us to co-operate, I hope that we can do so. Many issues involve not purely domestic arguments, but how the outside world perceives our country. We have a responsibility to do the best we can for the nation.
The Krebs report is before me, and I also have all the Ministry's advice. I am holding a meeting this afternoon on the matter, and I hope to have something positive to say before the House rises for the recess. Bovine TB is important, but I am not able to make a statement now. The hon. Gentleman spoke of the industry's attitude, and I can tell him that I will be meeting the president of the National Farmers Union and his colleagues later today to discuss a range of matters, of which I am sure that that will be one.

§ Mr. John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan)
May I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his new post, in which he will do an excellent job for the farmers of my constituency? Promotion and sale of beef is primarily carried out through our major supermarkets. May I draw the attention of my right hon. Friend to this morning's reports that the Office of Fair Trading is to look at the purchasing power of the supermarkets to see whether the price of beef is kept artificially high in the shops?
That, in turn, is not helping our farmers at all. Next month we have the agricultural show in the Vale of Glamorgan at Fonmon castle. Does the Minister plan to meet John Bridgeman to discuss this important issue?

§ Mr. Brown
I have already had discussions with the Secretary of State for Wales, and he has invited me to visit the agricultural communities in Wales, which I intend to do on an early occasion. I accept what my hon. Friend says about the power of the big retailers and I shall also be meeting representatives of retailing organisations, probably in the autumn. The Government have always taken the view, however, that competition policy is a matter for the regulatory authorities.