§ 3.7 p.m.
§ LORD TREFGARNEMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether recent public exhortations by Ministers against buying certain agricultural products on the ground that their prices are too high are to be regarded as a new form of official price regulation; and whether there is any reason why the Chancellor of the Exchequer should single out such products for his attention; and whether he consulted his successor at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food before urging what amounts to a temporary boycott of meat and potatoes by the public; and further, whether, if the Chancellor feels it necessary to bring his influence to bear in this way, he will consider whether the high prices of some products bought by farmers do not equally warrant his attention.]
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM)My Lords, I assume the noble Lord refers to some remarks by my right honourable friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer last Saturday as reported in some newspapers. My right honourable friend tells me that he did not in fact say, as reported, that the price of potatoes is higher than it ought to be; but, rather, that it was higher than he would like to see it. He also made it clear that this was due to the weather. I think the noble Lord reads too much into a light-hearted aside at an informal gathering.
§ LORD TREFGARNEMy Lords, while thanking the noble Viscount for his reply, may I say that his right honourable friend cannot have received all his press cuttings.
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMMy Lords, I think that the noble Lord must ask a question.
§ LORD TREFGARNEMy Lords, may I ask the noble Viscount whether he is aware that his Answer indicates that his right honourable friend cannot have received all his Press cuttings? And further, whether he will invite him to take the logic of his position and, if he is prepared to urge housewives to stand off when prices are too high, as he certainly has been reported as saying, urge housewives to offer a higher price in the shops when farmers' products are priced too low, as they very frequently are?
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMMy Lords, I think it would be a very great pity if Members of Parliament were denied the exercise of an occasional lighthearted sense of humour towards their constituents.
§ LORD TREFGARNEMy Lords, may I say to the noble Viscount, with great respect, that this is not a case of a Member of Parliament speaking "off the cuff", but of a responsible Minister—a Cabinet Minister—whose words are bound to carry great weight, have far-reaching effect and create a good deal of dissatisfaction, as this particular statement has done?
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMMy Lords, I must say that I think that those who know my right honourable friend—and they represent the larger number of the people in this country, especially the farming community, since he was previously the Minister of Agriculture—both like his sense of humour and would beg him to retain it.
§ LORD AMWELLMy Lords, is it not about time that the consumer realised that there was a law of supply and demand?
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMThat was exactly what my right honourable friend was intending, in an informal and happy way, to convey.
§ LORD TREFGARNEMy Lords, may I put one brief question to the noble Viscount? Will he suggest to his right honourable friend that, before making an excursion into the affairs of another departmental Minister, he should consult with that departmental Minister?
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMNo, my Lords, I will not. I think my right honourable friend made a very happy speech to his constituents, and nobody, except the noble Lord, misunderstood it in any way.