HL Deb 07 July 1977 vol 385 cc454-6

3.13 p.m.

Lord O'HAGAN

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 how the cost of living in the United Kingdom has been affected by membership of the EEC.

Lord ORAM

My Lords, this is a matter on which precise estimates are impossible. The one thing of which we can be confident is that any effect has been slight, and certainly well below the forecasts published by Governments of both Parties before we joined the Community.

Lord O'HAGAN

My Lords, has the noble Lord studied the speech made by Mr. Roy Hattersley on 18th June in which he stated that the effect in percentage terms over the past year was under 1 per cent? Do the Government as a whole agree with their Secretary of State on this matter? Will the noble Lord make inquiries as to whether it will be possible to issue these statistics on a regular basis and so prevent me from having to occupy your Lordships' time by asking for the information?

Lord ORAM

My Lords, indeed the Government as a whole agree with my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection. He made a more precise Statement in another place on 20th June. He pointed out that the annual rate of inflation in this country is running at about 17.5 per cent., and of this about 0.5 per cent. is due to the Common Agricultural Policy. I will follow up the second point which the noble Lord made about the publication of statistics of the kind which he seeks.

Lord CARRINGTON

My Lords, would the noble Lord make sure that his Answer is circulated to all members of the Cabinet?

Lord BYERS

My Lords, may I ask the noble Lord whether he really means that the Government as a whole accept this, or that a majority of the Government accept it?

Lord ORAM

My Lords, I have been giving facts, and my right honourable and honourable friends are well aware of the facts.

Lord BYERS

My Lords, I asked whether it was the majority of the Cabinet and the Government or the Government as a whole. This is a fact that the House ought to know.

Lord ORAM

My Lords, I am sure that all that I have said this afternoon is well accepted by the members of the Cabinet.

Lord DAVIES of LEEK

My Lords, if he accepts the request of the noble Lord the Leader of the Opposition to circulate the Cabinet with categorical statements, will my noble friend include in that process a statement which I extracted from the New Statesman and New Society today which told the British public in an advertisement before the referendum that they would be £7 a week better off by joining the Common Market? I am still waiting for my £7.

Lord FLETCHER

My Lords, would it be right to interpret the Minister's statement as saying that there is no evidence that the cost of living in the United Kingdom has been adversely affected by our membership of the EEC?

Lord ORAM

My Lords, what I said was that the cost of living has been very much less affected than the estimates that were made at the time that we joined. The estimates that were made by successive Governments were of the order of 15 to 20 per cent. As I have indicated, it is very much less; 0.5 per cent., in relation to the Common Agricultural Policy.

Lord SHINWELL

My Lords, is my noble friend aware that every time this Question has been asked we have had the same answer; namely, that the increase in the cost of living in this country attributable to the EEC is minimal? May I ask him this question. In view of the fact—and it is an inescapable fact well known to us all—that the cost of living in the other countries associated with the EEC is very much higher than in this country, is that due to membership of the EEC?

Lord ORAM

My Lords, there are many factors affecting increases in the cost of living other than membership by ourselves or other countries of the Community. The price of commodities which come from outside the Community, coffee, I tea and items of that kind, have increased very greatly in price. Labour costs have also increased. The oil crisis and many major factors of this kind have caused the increase in the cost of living, both on the Continent and here. These factors do not arise out of the arrangements between the Member nations of the Community.