Proposed Merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda

Debate between Lord Palmer and Lord Henley

Tuesday 1st May 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

No, my Lords, on this occasion the CMA will be doing this job. I think we can all say—even the noble Lord might agree—that, thankfully, the Commission will not be involved in any way at all.

[Lord Palmer (CB)]

My Lords, I have been involved in the food industry all my working life. Is this not in a way the thin end of the wedge? We already have completely deserted high streets. Are we shortly going to have completely deserted out-of-town shopping centres?

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am aware of the noble Lord’s involvement in the food industry. We have been eating biscuits bearing his name for some time, except I am not sure if we do eat those biscuits any more. The noble Lord will be aware that the retail world is changing, because that is what consumers require. It is not in our power to stop those changes; we must live with them. The retail sector itself must look at how the high street is changing and adapt accordingly.

Abattoirs: CCTV

Debate between Lord Palmer and Lord Henley

Tuesday 23rd November 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, of course they will not affect the role of local authorities in that regard. What is important is that Defra, through the Food Standards Agency, will continue to make sure that abattoirs are operating carefully, and we will make sure that appropriate funds are available for that. We are also going to consult on whether we should look to a full costs recovery scheme for the costs of monitoring what goes on in abattoirs, but obviously that is something which has to be discussed with the industry.

[Lord Palmer]

My Lords, given that the coalition Government have made it quite clear that the noble Lord’s department in particular wishes to cut red tape, insisting that every abattoir has CCTV would surely go against its principles.

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, we have no power to insist that every abattoir should have CCTV, and that will be made even clearer when the latest EU regulation, Regulation 1099/2009, comes into effect. We will continue to encourage all abattoirs to install CCTV, but that is only one method of ensuring that appropriate monitoring takes place. There are other tools that can be used.