§ Mr. Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what representations he has had about redundancies in Scottish meat firms caused by Messrs Marks and Spencer transferring its purchases to Brazilian firms; and if the recent agreements at the European Council will result in Scottish meat firms receiving supplies at prices comparable to Brazil.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe Marks and Spencer's decision should not affect Scottish meat firms generally, but will have an adverse impact on employment at one particular company, with whom officials are in close touch. The Government have discussed this problem with the European Commission, which recently stated at a meeting of the Agriculture Council that it recognised the need to ensure that additional supplies of beef are 457W available to the Community's meat processing industry on terms that enable Community production to be competitive with products from other sources.