Agriculture Council

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:33 pm on 25 January 1989.

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Photo of Mr Donald Thompson Mr Donald Thompson , Calder Valley 3:33, 25 January 1989

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his kind remarks about my right hon. Friend the Minister; and I thank the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark), who made similar remarks privately to me before the statement. The Minister is improving. He is in hospital in Brussels, being well looked after, and he hopes to be back in business soon.

The heifer question is difficult for British farmers. As the hon. Member for Ynys Mon (Mr. Jones) expressed it so well the other night, 34 per cent. of our beef comes from heifers. It would be horrendous to monitor the heifer system by on-farm inspections throughout Europe to see that none got into the dairy system, and it would be impossible to receive a derogation just for the United Kingdom.

The low income scheme is tentative, although some guidelines were set down, such as the 300 million ecu total, the period of five years and the maximum of 2,500 ecu. It is not appropriate for the United Kingdom. We have other better ways of preserving our farming community.