§ 15. Mr. Peter Millsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the latest position regarding the rate of the green pound and the rate of the £ sterling.
§ 20. Mr. Giles Shawasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the effect of devaluing the green pound by 10 per cent. in terms of the consumers and the producer.
§ 28. Mr. Torneyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the effect of the green pound on both consumers' and farmers' interests; and if he will make a statement.
§ 29. Mr. Bulmerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the present situation regarding the green pound.
§ Mr. PeartI would refer the hon. Members to the statement I made in the House on 24th July.—[Vol. 896, c. 791.]
§ 16. Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the effect of a 10 per cent. devaluation of the green pound would be on the milk price paid to producers.
§ Mr. PeartA change in the representative rate for sterling does not automatically alter the level of the guaranteed price; but a 10 per cent. change—instead of the 5 per cent. which has been announced—would allow an increase in the guaranteed price of over 4p per gallon.
§ 19. Mr. Wigginasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to what level the guaranteed prices of barley, oats, wheat and sugar-beet would rise if the green pound was devalued by 10 per cent.
§ Mr. BishopThe EEC minimum price for the 1975 United Kingdom sugar beet crop would increase to £13.84 a ton. There would be no automatic effect on our guaranteed prices for cereals. EEC582W support prices for cereals applicable in the United Kingdom would increase by just over 10 per cent. in sterling terms.
§ 24. Mr. MacGregorasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received from the European Commission or from other European partners wanting a realignment of the British green pound.
§ Mr. PeartNone. There were, however, informal discussions with the European Commission prior to last week's Council decision on the representative rate.
§ 39. Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in order to achieve the Government's declared aim to increase farm production, he will now seek to abolish the green pound system and also speed up the transition to EEC prices of agricultural produce.
§ Mr. PeartI am not satisfied that such action in present circumstances is feasible or desirable I have said that we remain ready to consider further adjustments to the green pound should these be necessary to assure our agriculture industry of a fair return.
60. Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when he expects the green pound sterling and the Eire green pound to be at parity.
§ Mr. PeartI cannot say when the gap between the two representative rates will be closed since the rate for the Irish Republic is primarily a matter for the Government of the Irish Republic. I have said that we remain ready to consider further adjustments to the United Kingdom rate should these be necessary.
§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what would be the effects upon the retail price index if the green pound were brought up to the full value of the international £ sterling;
(2) what is the extent by which the green pound has been devalued as against the international £ sterling as of today.
§ Mr. PeartThe gap between the market value of the £ in agricultural units of account and the new representtive 583W rate, if it were in force this week, would be about 12 per cent. It is impossible to forecast precisely what the effect on the retail price index would be of adjusting the representative rate so as to close this gap, but the increase might be of the order of just over ½ per cent.