Orders of the Day — European Communities (Developments)

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 15 November 1978.

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Photo of Mr James Scott-Hopkins Mr James Scott-Hopkins , West Derbyshire 12:00, 15 November 1978

I will if my hon. Friend wishes. Perhaps he will read a pamphlet on the subject that I wrote only a month ago. I think that it would keep him awake at night. I do not advertise it further than that.

I am glad that in his speech on Monday night the Prime Minister accepted the principles of the CAP under article 38, which is the important article. Not only does the consumer get a fair deal and the farmer a fair return for his labour; there is the principle of a protective levy around the Community—at a level to be decided—and the principle that there should be a base price below which products should not fall.

Any belief that if we left the Community we should be able to buy food at low prices on the world market is a fallacy. It would be possible to buy a small amount for a short period, but we would soon find that prices went very high, because the world markets are the terminal markets. They are not stable enough to supply a country such as the United Kingdom with her total requirements over a reasonable period.

That is one of the points that I think the Prime Minister has recognised in his acceptance of the principles of the CAP. Consumers are guaranteed a certainty of supply. That is perhaps one of its most important aspects.

It is true that the level of intervention is much too high, and that what Commissioner Gundelach has been trying to do is right. As the hon. Member for Farnworth said, Commissioner Gundelach tried very hard this year to keep the increase to 0 per cent., giving the green currency rises where they were demanded. I hope that he can do it in the coming year, though I do not know whether he will be able to hold the fort. That is clearly the policy that must be pursued, with the intervention levels and perhaps the co-responsibility level being dealt with at the same time. Certainly we want intervention levels that do not make it worth while or profitable to produce purely for intervention when there is no market for the product, whatever it may be.