Oral Answers to Questions — Agriculture, Fisheries and Food – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 November 1973.
Mr Eric Deakins
, Walthamstow West
12:00,
22 November 1973
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much has been spent by the Intervention Board in payments to take foodstuffs off the market in 1973.
Mr James Stodart
, Edinburgh West
Up to 31st October £15,032,000 had been spent on Intervention buying, £2,168,000 on aids to private storage and £441 in compensation to producer groups. For aids to private storage and payments to producer groups, the amount spent is provided from Community funds. The net cost of purchase into intervention is recovered from those funds when the product is sold.
Mr Eric Deakins
, Walthamstow West
Will not this make food dearer in Britain? When will the Government seek to alter this wholly immoral aspect of the common agricultural policy?
Mr James Stodart
, Edinburgh West
I must again repeat that this is one of the basic elements of the CAP, which the Opposition found was not negotiable. In any case, Intervention buying is an alternative method of supporting agriculture, to which I believe every party agrees in principle. By intervention buying £15 million was spent solely on butter and skimmed milk powder and £2 million on private storage mainly to equal the cost of sugar storage which is recovered by levy from sugar manufacturers.
Sir Arthur Irvine
, Liverpool Edge Hill
Are not the Opposition constantly asking for the subsidising of agriculture, and is not the Intervention Board providing just that?
Mr James Stodart
, Edinburgh West
Yes. That was a remark which was made by a distinguished Member on the back benches.
An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
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An intervention is when the MP making a speech is interrupted by another MP and asked to 'give way' to allow the other MP to intervene on the speech to ask a question or comment on what has just been said.
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