Orders of the Day — Scotland (Agriculture)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 June 1949.

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Photo of Mr Robert Boothby Mr Robert Boothby , Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Eastern 12:00, 30 June 1949

They are risky only because of the lack of generosity by the Government. The Government are not spending enough money on the development of marginal land, in view of our present emergency, and in view of the money they are pouring out on other projects. Just think of groundnuts and think what we could do in Scotland, where we do not have any droughts—at least we do not have any Kongwa droughts. Just think what the Government could have done to the marginal land in Scotland with a quarter of what they have spent on scratching around in Kongwa and getting nothing at the end of it. I am not in principle against the groundnut scheme; but when I see the money which has been spent and compare it with the amount of money we are prepared to spend on the development of marginal land in this country, I think it is cock-eyed, if I may use the term, and out of proportion. Here is a field where it really would pay the Government to spend money, because it would give an immediate return in the most valuable form of all—food, which is what we want from every point of view at present. There would be no loss of gold or dollars. Therefore, it would have a direct impact on the fundamental problem of our balance of payments.

If Scotland were a Colony, the Government would spend more on it. I have often said that if Scotland had been a Crown Colony, a great deal more money would have been spent on it in the last 50 years than has been spent, particularly in the Western Highlands and Islands. They have been allowed to linger and maunder into a state which if it had been Kenya or the Gold Coast would never have been tolerated for one second. There would have been 20 Parliamentary Commissions going out to investigate and report. The Highlands and Islands and tae marginal land of Scotland have not been developed adequately over the last 20 or 30 years. There is no doubt about that. There was some reason for this when there was a glut of food in the world, as there was for about 20 years. There is no reason or excuse for it today when, so far as we can see, for many years to come we shall want all the food we can possibly lay hands upon—particularly food grown inside this country. Therefore, I say that if the Government took a bold view and pressed on with marginal land development, it would be a most excellent policy.

I spent some part of the Parliamentary Recess moving about in a very interesting country, the country of Denmark. I was amazed at the agricultural recovery which has taken place there in the last two or three years. They suffered things that we did not suffer. They were occupied for five years by the Germans, and we were not so occupied. Their livestock was seized by the Germans. They were indeed gutted of livestock, and that did not happen to us. I have no hesitation in saying that their agricultural recovery has been greater than ours, proportionately, over that period of time. This is even more remarkable in view of the fact that the average size of a farm in Denmark is much smaller than in this country, and the number of smallholdings is far greater.

I should like to recapitulate some of the points which struck us most there. I think all my colleagues on the Parliamentary delegation would agree with me about this, because we had a most interesting trip. First, we were struck by the general economy of the farms. It is fearfully good. Nothing is wasted. Secondly, the excellence of the farm buildings. They are better on average than those we have in Scotland. Thirdly, the quantity and quality of pigs and poultry which is greater than we see on the ordinary average Scottish farm. Fourthly—and this is important, I think—concentration on products most suitable to a particular district. They attach great importance to this, as I do. It is frightfully important, as my hon. Friend the Member for West Perth said, that the dairy country should concentrate on producing milk and dairy herds and the beef country, like the country I represent, should not try to go in for milk production on a large scale but should get on with Aberdeen Angus, which thrive best of all in their natural native country, which is the north-cast corner of Aberdeenshire. We ought to concentrate on maximum beef production in the beef-producing areas and maximum milk production in the milk-producing areas. That is what they do in Denmark.

Fifthly, we noticed that there was electricity everywhere. I admit that the Secretary of State had a case there. The hydro-electric scheme which we all support has already done tremendous good in the country districts of Scotland and it is likely to do a very great deal more good in future. Sixthly—and here again they are far better than us—they have made the most strenuous efforts to increase water supplies for all their farms, particularly in South Jutland, where the water is brackish and undrinkable owing to the incursion of the sea. There it is a very difficult problem which they are tackling with an immense vigour and upon which they are spending a great deal of money. Finally, we noted their system of co-operative marketing, which is really remarkable, and much better than we have here. There is far more effective co-operation between the producers than we have, except perhaps with regard to the marketing of milk.

My hon. Friend the Member for West Perth asked rhetorically what was the long-term policy of His Majesty's Government, and the Secretary of State gave us this rhapsody in reply. It was all right, but it did not really get us very much further on the question of the long-term policy. Has he any ideas about establishing a Meat Marketing Board on the lines of the Milk Marketing Board? And has he any views about getting a better regional distribution of centralised slaughterhouses and processing centres than exists at present? They certainly have a very much better system in Denmark than we have in Scotland. Of one thing I am absolutely certain. I do not want to be dogmatic, and I do not pretend to be dogmatic when I say that our present methods of marketing meat require the most careful examination and reconsideration, in the light of post-war conditions.

I do not think that the Lucas Committee found the answer to this problem. The general structure of the guaranteed price must in all circumstances be retained. But, if the Government will not give an adequate premium for quality, there is something to be said for letting the wholesalers bid for it. They know a good piece of meat when they see it and they might bid to a point which would encourage the farmers to go in for breeding the best quality. [An HON. MEMBER: "They did not do it before the war."] Before the war there were imports from the Argentine, but the circumstances are entirely different now. One thing is essential, and that is that the production of high-quality beasts must be encouraged in every possible way, because they are the necessary basis of a sound livestock economy in any country.

Let me now turn to the wider issues. We are in the throes of an economic crisis of the first magnitude, and we are all agreed that one of the ways to get out of it is to get a tremendous increase in home food production. We cannot accept this drop of 400,000 tons as against pre-war in our meat production, and I feel very strongly that a fresh impulse is needed and a new concentration on the land, and particularly on livestock. I have mentioned marginal land, but even more important in some ways is water. The Secretary of State enumerated a number of schemes, but, as he knows, the state of our water supplies is a continuing scandal, and has been for years on end. It really is fantastic. This is the wettest island in the world, and if the sun shines for three weeks the whole population gets into a panic, as they are now. It is perfectly crazy. If there is the slightest wisp of good weather, there is a water shortage in about 900 villages. We cannot expect it to rain every day; but that is about what would be needed to keep the wells full over a large part of this country. I really think that we must get a real drive in this matter, and that this should not be made a party issue.

Then, there is the provision, always promised and never fulfilled, of adequate housing accommodation and transport facilities in the rural areas. I do not labour these points, but merely say that it is necessary for hon. Members on both sides of the Committee to draw the attention of the Government to them and prod them about them, that it is our business to do that and the whole point of having this Debate today.

I would like to say another word or two about the herring industry, which has been mentioned by the hon. Gentleman who spoke last and also by the right hon. Gentleman himself. It is on the question of co-operation, which is very important. I have preached co-operation between the Herring Industry Board and every section of the industry, as the Secretary of State well knows, for many years; but in order to co-operate with somebody you have got to see him. I have a complaint about the Herring Industry Board, and they know it, that they do not go down amongst the fishermen at the time of the big fishings, and get into contact with them, and argue things out on the spot.

There was a very interesting dispute the other day over the quantity of herring going for manufacture into fish meal, which, as has been said, is extremely important for agriculture. What the fishermen will not do, and I sympathise with them, is go out and catch herring solely for the purpose of manufacture into fish meal, because it does not pay them to do so. If the quality of herring is so bad that they cannot be sold for anything else, they jib at going to sea to catch them, and they are right. It is a question of an equitable price. There was a deadlock, with everybody getting angrier and angrier and hotter and hotter, until somebody suggested that the Herring Industry Board should go to Fraserburgh, where the whole thing was settled in an hour or two, as I anticipated it would be.

The right hon. Gentleman should press upon the Board the necessity of getting into close touch with the actual operation of the industry, which they seldom do. I think that one or two members of the Board should be constantly visiting the great herring ports at the height of the summer fishing season, and should also be at Yarmouth and Lowestoft at the time of the autumn fishing. When these situations arise, sometimes as a result of gluts, they should be handled quickly by representatives of the Board, the leaders of the fishermen, and the curers, and the whole matter could be settled in ten minutes round a table; whereas, sitting in a board room in Edinburgh, which is about as remote from the herring industry as anything could be, there can be no direct contact between the Board and the industry, and misunderstandings are bound to arise.

Our country districts in Scotland need to be fertilised. This can be done through a great expansion of the agricultural and fishing industries, and it can also be done through a great expansion of the tourist industry. I will not say anything today about the effects of the Catering Wages Act on country hotels in Scotland because I think it would be out of Order. I was afraid it would, but I wanted to get that one in. To revert to agriculture, we all know that it is not merely our greatest industry, but also a way of life. A prosperous and healthy agriculture is the necessary foundation of any country which wishes to hold its own in the modern world.