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6.42 pm
Mrs. Janet Dean (Burton): I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in the debate, because my constituency not only produces excellent beer--a product mentioned by the right hon. Member for Skipton and Ripon (Mr. Curry)--but covers a large area of rural Staffordshire. The hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Mr. Luff), the Chairman of the Select Committee on Agriculture, said that we should not go over old ground, that the debate should start from today. That is impossible because, as some hon. Members have said, the issues go back to the BSE crisis, and many of them are intertwined.
Since before I was elected, I have been aware of the unprecedented difficulties of farmers. I was brought up on a farm, and I know that farmers have always had to cope with the day-to-day problems of our changeable climate, and with epidemics such as foot and mouth disease. However, nothing compares with their problems over the BSE crisis.
Time and again, the previous Government failed to tackle BSE. Their record was one of continual failure. The announcement on the fateful day of 20 March 1996 of the possible link between BSE and new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease caused great fear among farmers attending my local cattle market in Uttoxeter. However, the announcement did not clarify the situation or define the measures that would be needed to tackle the problem and protect the public. Those first few days of uncertainty exacerbated public concern about the safety of beef. Sadly, the previous Government went on to blame everyone but themselves for the crisis.
I welcome the report by the Select Committee on Agriculture, and above all I welcome the Government's response to it. The report shows that the Government have worked hard over the past 14 months to restore confidence in British beef, to find a way to lift the export ban and to ensure that British beef is as safe as any. I have had regular meetings with members of the National Farmers Union branches in Burton and Uttoxeter. Throughout the months since the election, they have expressed their concerns to me. Of course they continue to struggle because of the drop in farm gate prices resulting from the high value of the pound, and they are greatly concerned about the industry's future and the uncertainty.
My farmers appreciate the work of Ministers, especially in negotiation with our European partners. Burton NFU members asked me to pass their thanks to the Minister for his efforts in negotiations in the European Union, and they expressed their appreciation of the fact that the Government are to provide initial funding for the cattle traceability scheme and specified risk material controls.
Many issues that were raised with me and which are raised in the Select Committee report have been addressed by the Government. Of course there is still concern. Farmers in my constituency want a level playing field so that they are on a par with their European neighbours, and they do not want to carry the bulk of the cut in EU capacity. They remain concerned about the difference between wholesale and retail prices.
Uttoxeter NFU members conducted a study which showed a wholesale price of 90p a kg. That compared with £13.49 a kg in local supermarkets and £8.47 a kg for a similar cut from a family butcher. There is obviously a great difference between the price of meat from a local butcher and that from a supermarket, and an even greater difference between those prices and the wholesale price.
Farmers recognise the need for restructuring agriculture, and for a retirement scheme that will allow older farmers to retire with dignity and does not discriminate against women farmers. I am grateful to Ministers for their consultations on the European Union early retirement scheme. I hope that there is a satisfactory outcome.
Mr. John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings):
I am sorry to start with a negative comment, but I cannot agree with the hon. Member for Burton (Mrs. Dean) about British farmers' faith in the halcyon new age and the marvellous new Government who have done so much for them. That view is certainly not shared by the farmers I meet as I travel around my constituency and more widely.
Of course, the crisis, which has been described by Labour Ministers as the worst crisis facing agriculture for a century, is not entirely a result of what has happened over the past 14 months, and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise. Of course BSE is a major factor in the problems facing the beef industry. That is implicit in any discussion about the industry.
I shall identify 10 key points that are a direct result of matters that have arisen over the past year. I shall try to cover those points a little more speedily than my hon. Friend the Member for North Wiltshire (Mr. Gray), who took us on journey round the livestock markets and shows of Great Britain, or the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Mr. Marsden), who took us on a journey from false logic to science fiction.
The first point is that farm incomes have fallen in the past year. There may be history to that, but in livestock terms, farm incomes have fallen by 62 per cent. in the past year. Throughout that year, the Government have claimed to be making great progress in their support for British beef.
Secondly, the strong pound is a direct result of Government monetary policy. The hon. Member for Forest of Dean (Mrs. Organ) tells us that that is something to do with the Government, but it is also the result of other factors over which the Government have no control. The truth, however, is that we have had two Budgets that have failed to stimulate savings and control consumer spending.
Interest rate authority has been passed to the Bank of England, which has used that authority to raise interest rates and maintain an artificially high pound. That has had a dramatic effect on the ability of our farmers, like all other manufacturers, to export. The high pound can be attributed only to the Government's failure to grasp the economic issues that surround it.
The third issue is that no serious attempt was made during the British presidency of the EU to deal with CAP reform. Despite the rhetoric, when Britain held the presidency CAP reform was relegated so far that it fell off the end of the list.
Fourthly, there has been no genuine progress on the lifting of the export ban. Granted, it has been lifted in the case of Northern Ireland, but that is pitiful after 14 months, when Northern Ireland never had a case of BSE anyway. Let us not forget that, when the current Government were in opposition, in 1996, they spoke about a firm timetable for an immediate lifting of the ban. The previous Conservative Government were criticised at the end of 1996 for not achieving a lifting of the ban.
At one of his first Question Times at that Dispatch Box, the Prime Minister promised us early progress. That was more than a year ago. Since then, there has been the paltry lifting of the ban in Northern Ireland. Welcome as that is, it is paltry when set against those high targets.
Mr. Gray:
Will my hon. Friend give way?
Mr. Hayes:
Very briefly, as long as we are not going back to Chippenham.
Mr. Gray:
I shall happily take my hon. Friend back to Chippenham some time, if he would like to come with me. He might learn a thing or two. Will he pay tribute to our erstwhile right hon. Friend, Lord Mayhew, who put in place the negotiations that led eventually to the lifting of the ban in Northern Ireland?
Mr. Hayes:
Indeed, an excellent point. The truth is that the lifting of the ban in Northern Ireland would have happened--
Mr. David Taylor (North-West Leicestershire)
rose--
Mr. Hayes:
I shall give way, as the hon. Gentleman is such a fine chap.
Mr. Taylor:
The hon. Gentleman stated that there had been no cases of BSE in Northern Ireland. My information is that there have been 1,770 such cases. Would he care to correct that?
Mr. Hayes:
I am delighted to bow to the hon. Gentleman's superior knowledge in these matters. He is an extraordinary authority on all affairs Northern Irish. I shall qualify my remark by saying that no one would have expected the Northern Ireland ban not to be lifted, regardless of Government policy and regardless of which party was in government. To herald that as a great sign of progress and the result of Government policy is a fallacy.
Mr. Hayes:
No, with the greatest respect to the Minister, I shall not give way again. I said that I would make 10 points quickly, and I have made only four.
The fifth point is that there has been no firm guarantee of the necessary marketing support that will berequired, once the ban has been lifted. As we have heard,
enormous support will be required to assist with marketing, to re-establish confidence in the European marketplace, yet we have had no firm guarantee, in the form of facts and figures, from Government.
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