HL Deb 19 November 1974 vol 354 cc955-8
LORD LLOYD OF KILGERRAN

My Lords, I beg leave 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 they intend to report on the recent disturbances at Holyhead and other Welsh ports in connection with the import of cattle.

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, the Government have been keeping a close watch on the situation at those ports in Wales and elsewhere in Great Britain where demonstrations have been staged by farmers in recent weeks. Such demonstrations as have taken place over the last few days have been peaceful and orderly, and have not resulted in any disruption of trade. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has made clear in another place that the Government cannot condone action whereby producers take the law into their own hands, however strongly they may feel.

My Lords, I think we should all be grateful to the police for their restrained handling of these incidents, and I should like to pay a tribute to them.

LORD LLOYD OF KILGERRAN

My Lords, may I take this opportunity to thank the Minister for his Answer in regard to these very important Welsh affairs. While deploring the acts of violence which have taken place, I should like to join with him, if I may, in praising the police for the way they have handled these incidents. However, may I ask the Minister whether the Government—and I fully recognise that, in the Government, he is not responsible for matters of agriculture—realise that this drastic unrest that is taking place among an otherwise peaceful community is due to a desperate situation in which hundreds of farmers in Wales find themselves facing financial ruin?

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, we fully recognise the need for beef producers to have the assurance of a certain level of return. That is fully recognised. My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture is calling for urgent action at the meeting of the EEC Council of Ministers which is taking place in Brussels to-day. We shall hear the outcome of that discussion shortly.

LORD LLOYD OF KILGERRAN

My Lords, while thanking the Minister for his reply, may I ask him whether he realises that this unrest is entirely due, or largely due, to the insensitivity of the Labour Government towards these marginal hill farmers in Wales?

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, that statement is not accepted.

BARONESS EMMET OF AMBERLEY

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware of how consoling it is to hear from the Front Bench that it is necessary to uphold the law?

LORD HAILSHAM OF SAINT MARYLEBONE

My Lords, how does the noble Lord reconcile his statement that he cannot condone the actions of people who take the law into their own hands with the proposal to remove the disabilities from the Clay Cross councillors?

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, I suggest that that is quite a different question.

EARL FERRERS

My Lords, considering the fact that the noble Lord's right honourable friend gave the undertaking that farmers should receive about £18 per hundredweight for their live animals—and in view of the fact that since that statement the price at auction markets has done nothing but drop—will the noble Lord give an assurance that his right honourable friend really will raise the level of return for beef producers to the point to which he referred, which is really the cause of the disquiet?

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, we are well aware of these difficulties and my right honourable friend is in the middle of negotiations this afternoon. I suggest that we should await the result of those negotiations, perhaps until tomorrow.

EARL ST. ALDWYN

My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord the Leader of the House whether he would ask his right honourable friend the Prime Minister if it is not time that this House had a direct representative of the Ministry of Agriculture on the Government Front Bench? Agriculture is now a subject which is constantly under review, causing a great deal of alarm and despondency generally, and it really ought to be represented directly in this House.

THE LORD PRIVY SEAL (LORD SHEPHERD)

My Lords, I am sure that in putting that question the noble Earl was casting no reflection upon my noble friend as to the manner in which he answers on behalf of the Government. This is a difficult matter and, as the noble Earl himself will know from his experience of Governments in which he has been a major participant, it is not always possible to have a Minister to represent every Department. I accept that the Ministry of Agriculture is a Department in which this House has a particular interest. I shall not hold out any hope, but I will ensure that the good service that my noble friends have rendered in the past under difficult circumstances continues.

LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY

My Lords, I do not know whether I have to declare an interest in so far as I farm in Anglesey, but may I ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that there is great bitterness in Anglesey over what has happened? May I also ask the noble Lord whether he is aware that unless his right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture comes back with some better assurances for my neighbours I regret to say there will be further disturbances? May I further ask the noble Lord whether he would be prepared to suggest to his right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture that, in order to try to deal with these breaches, he might move away from Westminster and Brussels for a while and go to Anglesey to see these farmers?

LORD STRABOLGI

My Lords, we shall certainly take note of what the noble Lord, Lord Stanley of Alderley, has said. Of course, my right honourable friend the Minister makes frequent visits to all parts of the United Kingdom