24. Mr. Heiferasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection what steps he is currently taking to deal with the increased cost of food, arising from the United Kingdom's membership of the Common Market.
§ Mr. MaclennanOur membership of the EEC is only one of a large number of factors affecting the price of food, including the general rate of inflation and movements in world supplies and prices. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has made clear on a number of occasions the Government's determination in negotiations in the Council of Ministers to restrain common support prices for products in structural surplus.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Prices and Consumer Protection whether he will give a list of 12 stated foodstuffs which have risen in price by the largest amounts between October 1974 and December 1976 and the prices 28W of these commodities at these two stated dates.
§ Mr. MaclennanOf the 80 items of foods for which average retail prices are published each month in the Department of Employment Gazette, the 12 items listed below are those for which prices have risen most in percentage terms between October 1974 and October 1976. October 1976 is the latest month for which this price information is available.
p per lb. 15th October 1974 12th October 1976 Potatoes, old, loose: White … 3.1 11.5 Red … 3.6 12.0 Milk, ordinary per pint … 4.5 9.5 Butter: Home-produced … 24.6 49.5 New Zealand … 23.0 46.0 Danish … 26.7 51.1 Onions … 7.0 14.0 Cabbage … 5.7 9.6 Lamb, home-killed: Breast … 17.4 29.7 Shoulder with bone … 38.3 64.0 Beef, home-killed: Sirloin … 79.2 133.4 Silverside, without bone … 68.8 113.8