Oral Answers to Questions

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mark Lazarowicz (Edinburgh North and Leith) (Lab/Co-op)]

7. What recent discussions he has had with Ministers in the devolved Administrations on the adulteration of food in the UK.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

9. What recent discussions he has had with Ministers in the Scottish Government on the adulteration of food.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr Owen Paterson)]

I have been in regular contact with Ministers in the devolved Administrations to discuss the issue. Ministers from Scotland and Wales attended my meeting with the food industry on 18 February, where we made it clear that the adulteration of food is unacceptable and that consumers have to be the top priority. I most recently met Ministers in all the devolved Administrations at a pre-Agriculture Council meeting in Brussels on 25 February and the Welsh Minister briefly on Monday. I am grateful for their support.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Paterson]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to be proud of the quality of Scottish products, as we are, because of the high quality of the raw materials, their traceability and the thoroughness of our production systems. That is why this case must be sorted out. We cannot allow a small number of criminals to do huge damage to a key industry. We are discussing the issue of other types of adulteration with the FSA. That is particularly important to some minorities, so we will be looking to test for pork adulteration.

[Gregg McClymont]

The hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh), who chairs the Select Committee, has been clear that the Government were caught flat-footed by the horsemeat scandal. In that case, how would the Secretary of State describe the Scottish Government’s response, given that they picked up the phone nearly a week after Asda began clearing its shelves?

[Mr Paterson]

I am not responsible for the Scottish Government. All I will say is that I would like to thank the Scottish Minister and the Welsh Minister for their steadfast support. They came down to the last big meeting I held with industry leaders, and we were all completely united on the need to sort out this criminal conspiracy in order to clear the name of British food making. We want to get exporting and pushing on to expand the industry. We will not have it held back by criminal activity.

Common Fisheries Policy

Gregg McClymont Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

That is not really on the subject and is slightly above my pay grade, but I agree that the common fisheries policy has been an unmitigated disaster.

[Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)]

The European Commission’s proposals will ban the discard of quota fish only, but many discards are non-quota, as the Minister will be aware. Do the Government propose a total ban on discards or not?

[Richard Benyon]

We want to work with the industry to achieve an end to discards, which means looking at the whole range of species that are discarded. I was on a trawler last week watching perfectly edible fish being thrown into the sea. I know what an affront that is to us, and the great British public are outraged by it. We have to make sure that we follow this up and do not simply follow the letter of the document. The good work being done by DEFRA and partners in our Fishing for the Markets project and other schemes really makes a difference. I think we can get there.