Food Prices and Food Poverty

Part of Opposition Day — [Un-allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 4:50 pm on 23 January 2012.

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Photo of Caroline Spelman Caroline Spelman The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 4:50, 23 January 2012

If we thought that the groceries code adjudicator would put prices up, there would not be the current cross-party support across the House for creating it.

The important point is that we need a degree of humility and candour about the Labour party’s record. As has been noted, Labour has shown extraordinary candour in the wording of its own motion. We must be clear that the hon. Member for Wakefield is calling on the coalition Government to introduce the adjudicator early in the next Parliament. I am not sure whether she knows the outcome of the next election, but the motion clearly indicates that she has written off Labour’s prospects of forming the next Government—she is certainly not alone in that. It is always good to start a debate with an issue on which we can make common cause, but the good news for her is that we will not wait until the next Parliament to introduce the adjudicator.