§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will give a breakdown of the various price increases as given in the answer to Written Question No. 94, OFFICIAL REPORT, Friday 23rd November 1973, showing to what extent these increases 412W were due to : Great Britain's entry into the EEC, world price rises, profits and dividends, wage increases or any other reasons.
§ Mrs. FennerOf the overall rise of 44.8 per cent. in retail food prices since June 1970, about 1 per cent. has been due to our membership of the EEC. The remainder has been caused largely by increases in world food commodity prices, which rose by 77 per cent. over this period, together with the effect of currency movements on import prices and higher wages affecting the costs of processing and distributing food. A detailed analysis for each of the 80 items for which price information has previously been supplied to the hon. Member could be given, in so far as it was practicable, only at an unjustifiable cost to public funds.