§ Mr. Spearingasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, pursuant to his reply of 8 April to the hon. Member for Newham South, he will show the calculations on which he bases his conclusions that retail food prices will rise by 1 per cent. consequent on the Community agreement on farm prices, and state the equivalent percentage for commodities covered by that agreement, including milk, on the basis that the increase will be borne by the consumer.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThe 1 per cent. estimate is derived by expressing the estimated increase in consumers' expenditure on food as a percentage of total consumers' expenditure on food. In practice, the effect could be well under 1 per cent., depending on market conditions. The estimated maximum increases in certain representative foods are:
28W As I have made clear previously, it is not possible to give satisfactory estimates for commodities such as cheese and butter because of strong competition in the market which will moderate the effect on consumers.
bread ½p per standard loaf bacon up to 2p per lb. beef — liquid milk —