§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES (EARL, DE LA WARR)My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time. It provides for the extension for a further period of the help that was given to beef producers under the Cattle Industry (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1934, and subsequent legislation. Your Lordships will recall that on June 27 you gave approval to an Order extending the period during which the subsidy payment could be made until September 30, 1935. This Bill provides for a yet further continuance of this payment for another nine months, that is, until June, 1936. It also provides for the possibility, by Order approved by the two Houses of Parliament, of extending the subsidy for four months after that, bringing us to the end of October, 1936.
I should like to make it clear at once that the provisions of this Billl do not indicate, as has been suggested elsewhere, a breakdown of the negotiations which have been taking place and are still taking place with the Governments of the Dominions and Argentina on the longterm proposals outlined by the Government in the White Paper of March this year; nor indeed do they indicate that the Government take a pessimistic view of the outcome of these negotiations. 878 But your Lordships are aware that the industry with which we are dealing is a very large and important industry in this country, going into many millions of pounds worth of production per year. The interests concerned, not only in this country but also abroad, are vitally important, and I think your Lordships will agree that it is therefore right that in settling the long-term policy we should give ourselves full time for negotiation and arrangement between the various interests concerned. That does not mean to say that the policy of His Majesty's Government is not perfectly clear and definite. It has been already stated in the White Paper of 1935, and we adhere to that policy. Briefly, it is an earmarked tariff on meat imports, the proceeds of which should go to the home industry; with the addition of the reorganisation of our system of marketing, distribution and slaughtering which we would hope to obtain by general agreement.
The provisions of this Bill lead towards, and indeed interlock with, the arrangement which the Government hope to bring into operation as soon as agreement can be reached, or, failing agreement, as soon as our treaty obligations permit. There is no doubt, as I have ventured to state to your Lordships already, of our objective, but it is not within my power at the moment to say whether that objective can be reached in a few! months time or whether we shall have to wait until next autumn. I think, however, that we shall all be agreed that there is nothing worse for any section of the agricultural industry than a sense of insecurity, uncertainty and doubt as to the immediate future. This applies particularly to the livestock industry, which has to plan well ahead. The subsidy, to be of full value to the livestock industry in this country, must snake its effect felt right through the industry down to the breeder. There is no doubt that the emergency measures, apart from helping the beef feeder in a weak market, hive already helped to some extent to maintain the price of store cattle. In spite of low beef prices and uncertainty as to how long the subsidy will last, some classes of store cattle this spring have been realising £1 per head more than they did a year ago, but since last autumn the natural tendency has been for feeders to take a short view of the situation and to concentrate their 879 purchases on those forward animals which could be finished before the expiration of the subsidy.
The measures now proposed will give to beef producers a degree of security for a further fifteen months, and it is expected that confidence in the future will bring about better prices for younger store cattle. It is at least significant that within the last month or two yearlings were about 5s. per head dearer than a year ago. We are passing through a transitional stage in the beef industry and, quite admittedly, these are transitional measures. We are slowly resolving into order the chaos of the autumn of 1932. We can see quite clearly the point at which we are aiming; our policy is clearly defined, but we cannot bring that policy into operation by a wave of the wand or even, owing to our treaty arrangements with other countries, for some time by Act of Parliament. The one thing certain is that the Government will hold to their undertaking to safeguard the position of the United Kingdom livestock industry. The Government have given anxious consideration to the whole problem, and are of opinion that this undertaking can best be implemented in the present circumstances by an assurance which will enable the industry to plan ahead for at least a year and a quarter. That assurance is contained in the provisions of this Bill to which I am asking your Lordships to give a Second Reading.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 2a.—(Earl De La Warr.)
§ EARL PEELMy Lords, may I ask the noble Earl—I did not hear the first few words of his speech—whether the subsidy is going to be continued at exactly the same rate as it has been during the next twelve months, and, if so, what the amount of the subsidy is estimated to be?
§ EARL DE LA WARRIt will continue on exactly the same basis. It has been 5s. up till now, and presumably the Cattle Committee will continue to pay at the rate of 5s.
§ EARL DE LA WARRApproximately.
§ On Question, Bill read 2a, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House.