Dairy Industry

Debate between Albert Owen and Ian Lavery

Wednesday 5th November 2014 Westminster Hall

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr Heath). I pay tribute to him for the work that he did as a Minister, and in a previous Parliament when he worked with me on these issues. I congratulate the hon. Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart) on obtaining the debate. I assure him that I have not prepared a press release, or even written a speech, but I feel passionate about the subject. My first job and my brothers’ first jobs were working on dairy farms. The herds were small in those days, but it was great experience. Sadly, those farms have gone, for many different reasons, and the fields where they were are now full of horses. I love horses, but would prefer to see dairy cows there.

The farming industry has suffered for many years from external factors, which we have heard about today. More recently, high fuel and energy prices and expensive food stock have been added to by the Russian sanctions on the EU. I want to deal specifically with the price war in the supermarkets. I have long campaigned for a supermarket ombudsman, which was brought in as the groceries code adjudicator, but the current arrangement is lacking and needs to be strengthened. That is not a criticism. When we bring in legislation, we always find out later that it needs to be strengthened in response to issues such as the one we are considering.

Some supermarkets are devaluing a great British product. I want the red tractor on milk produce, but also the red dragon, so that people know about the local involvement, time and effort. Dairy farmers work damn hard. It is a tough job, throughout the year, and they cannot just diversify when the price moves up and down, because theirs is a long-term commitment. Producing the stock needed to produce dairy milk does not happen overnight, and it is not possible to cut back and switch on and off with demand.

We need greater localism and food labelling. The Minister has done some good work on food labelling, but it needs to go much further. In my constituency of Anglesey, for instance, local farmers supply a producer in the area.

[Ian Lavery (Wansbeck) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that there are also pressures on, for example, the baking industry, in that the prices of cakes and bread are being driven down, to the detriment of suppliers? Their situation is very similar to that of the suppliers in the dairy industry, and we must tackle the supermarkets on this issue.

[Albert Owen]

Absolutely. The example that I was going to give is that of Glanbia Cheese, which produces mozzarella for pizzas across the world. That is produced in my area, yet credit is not given to the superb milk that comes from north-west Wales and from Anglesey. That is an important point—the problem feeds into other food industries. My hon. Friend is right to make the point about cakes and so on.

We need to stand up together for British dairy farming, and today’s debate has been very useful, because we are coming to good conclusions. We want to strengthen the groceries code adjudicator’s remit, so that it can look at this issue. We want to stand up for the farmers, who are working damn hard to produce a product that is increasing in importance. Yes, there are external factors, but we want to be proud to be Welsh and proud to be British when it comes to our milk and dairy industry. I feel that this debate will help to move things forward.

The issue is a recurring one, and there are no party political points to be made here. The dairy industry is a difficult one, and it needs long-term support from across the parties—I know that the Minister is listening carefully to what is being said by Members from all parties—because we want Welsh and British dairy farmers to be able to produce the fine product that our children need and that our children’s children will need in the future.

Energy Price Freeze

Debate between Albert Owen and Ian Lavery

Wednesday 6th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Albert Owen (Ynys Môn) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to be speaking for the first time under your chairmanship, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I congratulate you on your election to the post.

I am very pleased that the former Energy Minister, the hon. Member for Wealden (Charles Hendry), is still in his place, because he is right that there was consensus between my good friend the late Malcolm Wicks and him, and they had a good working relationship. When he talks about political risk, however, he should not look across to this side of the Chamber. He should look within his own party and within the coalition, and see the debate within the coalition, which is causing divisions on energy policies today.

I am pleased this issue is high on the agenda. I have been banging on about energy prices for some time and I am glad it is now in the political mainstream. I am glad my party and party leader are leading on this issue, too, because I am afraid the Government are for ever in the wake on these issues. Only 18 months ago the Prime Minister had a summit in No. 10 Downing street. He was there for a few minutes—he was very busy—but he said he had sorted the energy companies out on prices. When I intervened on the then Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, in a debate and asked him whether he had told the energy companies to hold their prices down, he replied, “No need, they’re already going to do it on their own,” but here we are today with rises in prices that people and business cannot afford.

[Ian Lavery]

My hon. Friend and I had the dubious pleasure of attending that Select Committee hearing last week, and comments about a modest return have been made here today, too. The Centrica boss said to the CBI yesterday that £2.7 billion was a modest return. That is £7.4 million per day, or £86 per second. Is that a modest return, or is it robbery?

[Albert Owen]

My hon. Friend will recall that I challenged the Centrica bosses. Indeed, I challenged the CEO of Centrica not to take his bonus this year, because his salary and bonus combined have gone up by 38% since 2008 while bills from his company have gone up by 36%. I am a customer of British Gas, although perhaps not for much longer. To be fair to the CEO, Sam Laidlaw, he has decided not to take his bonus this year. I hope that others will listen and follow suit, because it is immoral that these companies are saying, “We are making only a modest amount,” yet they are paying themselves more than a modest bonus out of their profit. They tell us that the internal market between generation and retail is working okay and that they are separate entities, but they pay their bonuses altogether as one company, and they take a huge amount in dividends for their shareholders.

Trade Union Funding

Debate between Albert Owen and Ian Lavery

Wednesday 29th February 2012 Westminster Hall

[Ian Lavery]

I will not give way. It had been mentioned at the Tory party conference by officials and Ministers who were proud to be trade union bashers and trade union kickers. That is why a lot of the new Tory MPs are thinking that this is the way to get a job in the party. They think, “Let’s start kicking the trade unions. That’s what we should be doing.”

I have been a trade union representative since the age of 16 or 17. I have been involved in both the private and public sector. By the way, the private sector represents about 40% of facility time, so it is not only public sector representatives who are paid for by taxpayers for facility time.

About the money that has been suggested is being paid by the taxpayer, in my experience, if I had any time off for facility time, I would have just received the wages that I would have received had I been at work. That is not even a saving. No one was put in my place, so there was no saving. It is misleading to suggest that there can be a huge saving in facility time, because, in the main, people are not replaced when they are doing facility time, and that is important.

I represented people in the mining industry. My facility time was about health and safety. What is more important than health and safety in the workplace? I visited people who had lost their husbands underground. They did not want to see the colliery manager or anyone from the management. They would ring up and say, “Mr Lavery, can you go and speak”—

[Albert Owen (in the Chair)]

Order.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Lavery]

The hon. Gentleman is being very conciliatory in his contribution. The political levy is covered in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Union members must be balloted, whether or not they pay a political contribution.

[Albert Owen (in the Chair)]

Order. I call Gareth Thomas.