§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, further to his answer to the hon. Member for Grimsby, Official Report, 3 June, columns 662–63, whether he will confirm that the only representation made to him by the industry which mentioned a figure of : £3 million for the fishing industry was a request for such a figure from the Scottish Fishermen's Organisation for market support only.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithNo. None of the representations we received related to market support alone. The figure of £3 million reflected representations received from a number of sources in relation to support generally. It was also used by the Front Bench spokesman for Her Majesty's Opposition.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will now update the figures from his survey of national aids to fishing quoted by him in the House on 14 February and give for the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Denmark, the percentage of national aids for fishing, the percentage of the fleet, and the percentage of national landings for edible fish for the latest available four-month period.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithMy Department is currently reviewing the information available and I will provide the hon. Member with our best assessment of the situation as soon as possible.