§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Robert Ainsworth.]
9.59 pm§ Mr. Lindsay Hoyle (Chorley)Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for allowing me the opportunity to speak about the farming industry and to highlight the problems that face farmers in my constituency, who have had one of the most dismal years since the 1973 crisis.
The north-west is the second most affected area in Britain as regards the crisis in farming. Chorley has approximately 500 farmers. They are predominantly livestock farmers, although there is some arable in the lower areas of the constituency. They have all been hit hard by the bad summer and the turndown in stock prices. A ewe costs as little as £5 on Clitheroe market today, compared with £60, 10 years ago. In the past year, five of my farmers have sold up and one has had to get rid of his entire stock of pigs for next to nothing, losing thousands of pounds. Many more farmers are on the brink of bankruptcy.
The Tenant Farmers Association estimates that the average income of farmers has fallen by nearly 55 per cent. in the past year to just over £7,000. Most of my tenant farmers rent their land from North West Water or RJB Mining. Perhaps those companies could forgo six month's rent to allow the farmers to recover and give them a chance to keep farming, especially given some of the profits made by the utilities.
The situation is desperate in Chorley and throughout the country. Farmers in my constituency have pleaded with the Government for help. Without drastic action to solve the crisis, we will witness the decline and perhaps the extinction of a valuable industry and a great tradition in Britain.
I welcome the measures that the Government have taken so far to deal with the problems created by years of Conservative neglect. They have responded positively by providing agrimonetary compensation totalling £85 million in just two months and have so far retained the calf processing aid scheme to support the market for beef, which I hope will continue after November.
The Government have supported Britain's farmers in fighting for an end to the beef ban and have met the cost of enforcement of controls on specified risk materials from cattle and sheep in 1998–99. That support is worth £35 million and has helped livestock producers.
One of the best ways actively to repair the industry is to lend our support and back the "Buy British" campaign. It is vital that we not only restore the British public's confidence in British meat, but actively promote the sale of British produce. Today, the National Farmers Union launched its "Proud to Serve British" campaign, which was attended by my hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The campaign will target catering companies by encouraging them to buy British and to demonstrate that at retail outlets with the use of promotional material. I have one of the posters here.
One cannot underestimate the role that catering companies can play in supporting fanning. Families in Britain spend 26 per cent. of the annual food budget on eating out and turnover in catering outlets is rapidly on 779 the increase. In 1998, we spent £23 billion on catering and that figure is set to rise to at least £32 billion by the new millennium. However, only 50 per cent. of caterers buy their produce from a British source. We need to tackle that problem and to ensure that more caterers buy up to 100 per cent. from the United Kingdom. In the NFU's "Great British Food" survey of the general public, respondents said that they would like more British food to be served in local restaurants, cafes and pubs. Some 47 per cent. of the public state that their main reason for buying British is to support the rural economy, which the Government also support. We should build on that and make sure that everyone has the opportunity to purchase quality British produce.
I welcome the announcement by the Ministry of Defence that it is to serve British beef to the United Kingdom armed forces. That commitment will give a boost to the industry and help to restore confidence in beef among the British public. I hope that the MOD will soon follow suit with lamb. The lifting of the ban on beef on the bone next March will be another big step on the road to recovery.
We should now concentrate on schools, local education authorities, hospitals and other large establishments, which have a part to play in boosting the farming industry. We need a commitment from them that they will put beef back on the menu and make a concentrated effort to buy the British beef that we love.
We must put our full weight behind the campaign to back British produce. I hope that the people of the UK will show their support. We should actively encourage the public to purchase British produce by emphasising the high standards of our products.
I have already suggested to my hon. Friend the Minister that we should consider imposing stricter standards on imported meat and dairy produce. Often, inferior standard produce is imported and sold at a lower price. That must be stopped, by ensuring that meat and dairy produce adhere to high standards. The animal welfare standards observed in the UK should be applied to produce entering the UK market from abroad. For example, in the UK a qualified vet is required to be on hand at all slaughterhouses, but does the same rule apply in Greece and elsewhere—say, central America? What saving is made by not having to apply such strict standards in slaughterhouses there? If we applied equal controls, other countries would not be able to cut costs. We would be on an equal footing and furthermore, that would benefit animal welfare in other countries.
If a car is imported into the UK, we are careful to ensure that it meets all safety criteria to match our British standards. Why should meat and dairy produce be any different? I hope that the Minister will consider that.
I am disappointed by the way in which the supermarkets have acted during the crisis. It is about time that they acknowledged the vast problem. Instead of retaining the huge profits that they have been making, they should consider paying a fairer price for meat. Large supermarkets can afford to reduce their profits for the sake of a valuable industry, but instead they join together to maintain high retail prices. Soon they will no longer be able to offer the consumer a wide range of quality British products, as their greed will destroy the industry.
780 I welcome the fact that some supermarkets are beginning to see that. Sainsbury's, for example, now ensures that 90 per cent. of its produce is of British origin. Asda has removed New Zealand lamb from its shelves, in a move designed to boost Britain's struggling sheep farmers. I hope that Asda will pay a good price for the good quality lamb that it will sell.
In general, however, the supermarkets refuse to pay a fair price for meat and in some cases operate like a cartel, agreeing to keep prices high. Supermarkets may claim to be in competition when they sell products at rock-bottom prices, such as a tin of beans at 7p, but I do not see any savings being passed on to the consumer on beef, pork or lamb. I want a fair price for a quality product to be paid to farmers. That will protect farmers' livelihoods and allow the continuation of the farming industry and shoppers' choice.
Overall, I support the Government's efforts. They have acted swiftly to address the crisis in farming, and slowly but surely we are getting back on track. However, we need more support. I welcome the strong commitment to the UK farming industry and to the rural economy demonstrated in the intention to introduce market-oriented reform of the common agricultural policy.
I hope that we can get firmer backing for British produce to give the industry a boost; further agrimonetary compensation, especially for livestock farms; and more aid for farmers to help them in the short term and to ensure that this vital industry does not collapse.
I also welcome the support offered today by the Government to the "Proud to Serve British" campaign. The campaign is a drive to promote the quality and high standards of British farm products, and is an ideal way of restoring confidence and increasing agricultural sales. A similar campaign worked in the 1970s to counteract the worst farming crisis this century. I think that this is the way forward and will boost the industry again. I believe that farmers also have a part to play: when they need to buy a new tractor, they should also show a commitment to buying British.
§ 10.9 pm
§ Mr. David Heath (Somerton and Frome)I thank the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this brief debate. I shall try to express some of the real desperation that is felt by many members of the farming community in the area of Somerset that I represent. One such farmer came up to me in Kingsbury Episcopi last Saturday, as the rains came down and the floodwaters came up, to tell me about the woes of many farms in his area. A farmer from Nunney approached me during my village tour to show me the slip from Frome market, which revealed that he had gained 18p net per calf. The pig farmers in Wanstrow and Truddoxhill tell me that they are losing many pounds on every weaner that they take to market.
It is unheard of in my experience and in that of many farmers to see every farming sector down at the same time, but that is the situation at present. It is often said that farmers are prone to crying wolf, but this time it is not a false alarm: our farmers are in desperate straits. That is backed up by the statistics. A recent survey in the south-west found that farm profits in the region are down by 79 per cent. on average. That compares with an average of 49 per cent. throughout the country. An even 781 more alarming study conducted by the university of Exeter revealed that the average net farming income for lowland livestock farmers in the south-west will be £100 this financial year—we are returning to the days of Thomas Hardy with that sort of figure.
I assure the Minister that I do not think that the crisis in agriculture began on 2 May last year. There has been an on-going problem with which some Ministers have struggled manfully. They have done some of the right things, but the farming community and I would like to see more action on behalf of the farmers. First, the Government must recognise that the crisis exists not just in the upland areas but for lowland farmers as well. There is much concentration, for obvious reasons, on the upland farms and the difficulties that rural communities in those areas face. The lowland livestock farms of Somerset and the levels are not great ranches, but small, often tenant farms. As the hon. Gentleman said, those farmers are really suffering at present.
Secondly, I believe that a basket of short-term measures could be applied at this stage. I hope that the new Minister of Agriculture will examine some of those options. As the hon. Gentleman said, those short-term measures include agrimonetary compensation, which could be applied to the lowland, as well as the upland farms. The retention of the calf scheme beyond November would be not only a good signal but a stimulus to the beef industry to believe that better times may be ahead. The rendering industry is absolutely destitute at present. There is no rendering industry, and that is causing enormous problems for many farmers.
We must ensure that there is fair competition. The hon. Gentleman was absolutely correct in his comments in that regard. I hope that current moves will be successful in ending the beef ban, and I congratulate those Ministers who conducted the negotiations. However, we must ensure that there is fair competition with imports and that we are competing on level ground in terms of animal welfare and the quality of food imports.
We need to get to grips with the supermarkets and the profits that they continue to make while farming in this country is going down the drain. We must ask whether those profits are acceptable. We also need to examine interest rates, which are having a disastrous effect on all manufacturing industry—and farming is no exception. Some of us would argue in favour of a particular route out of the impasse, but that problem must be addressed on a national basis.
We can also do better in marketing United Kingdom produce. The United Kingdom generates extremely good farm produce. As for the south-west and particularly Somerset, I believe that we have some of the most wholesome and high-quality produce when compared with the produce of anywhere else that anyone cares to name. Yet I do not believe that we are marketing our produce as effectively as we could either in this country or abroad. More emphasis needs to be put on marketing.
I hope that the Minister will not talk, as colleagues have done, about fundamental restructuring of the industry. Of course there are pressures on the industry and of course there will be fall-out from that. However, when we talk about restructuring and "increased efficiency", we may be talking about the loss of the traditional family farm and the forcing of many smaller and medium-sized enterprises into agri-business, into the large conglomerates that own 782 a great deal of land but employ very few people. We may be losing the high standard of animal welfare which is inherent in many good family farms, where people care about the animals that they are looking after, and encouraging the growth of mono-culture, which is something that most of would prefer not to see.
Let us not talk about restructuring and efficiency, save the efficiency that comes from having a vibrant agricultural industry that employs local people, looks after animals well and provides for the best produce that we can produce.
It was a great disappointment to us in Somerset when the former Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was not able to come to Somerset to the Royal Bath and West show. It was the first time for a very long time that Ministers had not been present at the show. That is something that I hope will be put right by the Ministry this year. I invite the Minister, his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and any of his colleagues to come to Somerset to see for themselves the position in which we find our industry and perhaps learn from the experiences of so many of my constituents, who are finding life extremely difficult and are looking for help.
§ Mr. Lawrence Cunliffe (Leigh)I shall briefly and rapidly congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle). He represents a constituency that hosts exclusively the Royal Lancashire show each year, which is famous and historical. He presented his case profoundly and sincerely, and offered an excellent defence of the interests of British farmers in the north-west and throughout the United Kingdom. It was commendable and I congratulate him on it.
I shall speak exclusively about the area that I represent. Perhaps one would not think that Leigh and Wigan have rural areas where there are pig farmers, who almost exclusively are running small businesses. They are facing unfair competition. I say from my experience in Europe— tomorrow I am having discussions in Paris with the Agricultural Committee of the Council of Europe—that British pig food is quality production. It is subject to quality control and high standards, including those of animal welfare. We have higher standards than any of our continental competitors.
I feel for our farmers. We are talking of losses of about £30 to £35 on every pig that is reared, fed and sold. Many farmers face the stark scenario of bankruptcy. I know that the Government have taken commendable initiatives on which we have congratulated them but we are faced with unfair competition that hurts British producers. That unfair competition takes the form of inferior quality products. If our farmers maintain their standards they will face, obviously, a decline in their income. They cannot understand why that should happen.
Butchers in my constituency are also concerned—this is the supermarket argument. Everybody knows that the price of British beef or imported beef is propped up by the artificial prices and margins of other goods in the supermarket. That needs investigation by Committees of the House.
I am astonished—I would not say that I was shocked—that no Conservative Members are present to discuss British farming interests. I cannot believe that they are so 783 indifferent to those interests after their party's tremendous failure at the general election. Their lack of commitment to farming is revealed by their absence this evening, and it is shameful.
I conclude with a topical phrase—buy British. I say to absent Conservative Members that that is the British way. At their party conference they tried to use farming to demonstrate to the country that they are back on the agenda.
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Elliot Morley)I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on the powerful and knowledgeable way in which he made his case. He spoke in great detail about the effects of the recession in agriculture on his local farmers. I listened carefully to his points and I shall respond to them in a moment.
I pay tribute also to the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath), who made a similar case about the effects in Somerset and my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh (Mr. Cunliffe), who made a good case about the pig industry. I am sympathetic to that case as I come from north Lincolnshire, which is a major pig-producing area.
I acknowledge that apart from the hon. Members whom I have already mentioned, the debate is attended by my hon. Friends the Members for Stroud (Mr. Drew), for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Burden), for Carlisle (Mr. Martlew) and for Wythenshawe and Sale, East (Mr. Goggins), but not a single Conservative Member. When the Liberal Democrats held a debate last Monday, Conservative attendance was also very poor. That demonstrates who has farmers' interests and those of the rural economy at heart.
I recognise that most sectors of farming, but particularly the livestock sector, are having a difficult time. The ministerial team has been listening carefully to representations by organisations such as the Tenant Farmers Association, which my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley mentioned, and many individual farmers throughout the country.
I am glad that my hon. Friend acknowledged what the Government have already done to alleviate the pressures on farming. Last winter, we provided an extra £85 million of support for the beef and sheep industries. We also absorbed £35 million of start-up charges for the cattle traceability scheme, which has helped the industry a great deal.
I listened to my hon. Friend's points about the calf processing aid scheme. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is considering that and other measures. That scheme is a two-edged sword and people in the industry have argued for its end. It must end at some point and although we concede that that will cause welfare problems, the scheme itself has caused such problems.
I agree that one of the most important actions that we can take to restore confidence to the livestock sector is to get the ban on British beef lifted. We are in the final stages of achieving that. A tremendous amount of work has been done by my right hon. Friend the Minister and 784 his predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham). That will probably be discussed at the next Agriculture Council in November. There is no doubt that lifting the ban will send the right signals to the industry.
It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons why the livestock sector is facing such difficulties is that it faces the on-costs of specified offal removal. We must have such regulations and the extra costs because of the catastrophe of BSE, which has hit not only the beef industry but the whole livestock sector. The previous Administration made some terrible mistakes in dealing with BSE, and we are still feeling the reverberations and repercussions.
My hon. Friend the Member for Chorley made some good points about what can be done to help the livestock sector. He mentioned the promotion of the high standards of British meat production. We accept his case and, indeed, recently held a catering seminar chaired by Lord Donoughue. Its aim was to encourage the catering industry, which is a major sector of the economy, to use more British products. We argue that case not simply because we are British, although I was moved by my hon. Friend's patriotism.
The fact that a product is British is not enough. We argue for the use of British products on the basis of quality and welfare and hygiene standards. As my hon. Friend rightly said, our products conform to the highest standards in the world, and that fact needs to be borne in mind in the interests of fair and open competition. I shall say a little more about that in a moment.
My hon. Friend the Member for Leigh mentioned the pig industry. I understand what he said as I represent an area that is one of the centres of the British pig industry. Our British pig producers have put a great deal of effort and a great many resources into raising welfare standards and ending the sow stall and tether systems. In addition, pigs in this country are not fed meat and bone meal, as they often are on the continent.
I must stress that the pig industry has not come to the Government asking for more subsidies—in fact, it is not subsidised. It has asked only for recognition of its high welfare and quality standards, and it is absolutely right to do so. I might have a little word of encouragement for the industry. Today, my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture met the British Retail Consortium, which represents all the major retail supermarkets. It has agreed with my right hon. Friend that it will no longer stock pigmeat or bacon that comes from sow stall and tether systems or from pigs that are fed meat and bone meal. That is a tremendous step forward. As I said, this is not about being a little Englander but about fair competition.
Of course, some continental producers produce pigmeat to the same standards as we do. That is fine; that is what fair competition is about, but it is not unreasonable for the British Retail Consortium to recognise the particularly high standards that prevail in pig production in the UK. Of course, the customer also wants high standards. The consortium also discussed with the Ministry the fact that some imported meat is packed in the UK and then marketed as British meat. It has assured us that it is going to take action in that regard, and I congratulate it on that.
785 As my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley rightly said, the Ministry of Defence is sourcing 100 per cent. of its pigmeat, 50 per cent. of its bacon and—eventually—all of its beef from the UK. We shall of course use our influence on other Departments and on local government, not in an attempt to restrict trade but in order to get recognition of the high standards operated by the livestock sector.
We have been listening to suggestions from the industry and have listened to the points made this evening. We have also been considering the various options. Of course, there are cost implications involved in any 786 package, and any measures have to take their place among other Government priorities when it comes to the allocation of available resources. It is the kind of case that my hon. Friend the Member for Chorley has made this evening, and the way in which he has made it, that influences the Government. I assure him that he can tell his farmers tomorrow that we have listened carefully to what he and his colleagues have said. I assure him that what he has said tonight will influence what happens.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at twenty-nine minutes past Ten o'clock.