Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill [Lords]

Debate between Ian Murray and Philip Davies

Tuesday 26th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Philip Davies]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right; that is the purpose of the Bill. The big multinational companies that I have mentioned are the biggest suppliers to the supermarkets, in that they supply the biggest volume of the 40,000 or so products on sale in supermarkets at any given time, and they therefore have the most scope to benefit from the Bill. Why on earth should we wish to enable them to do that? I do not know the answer, and no one has yet argued that Heinz or Nestlé cannot afford to take their contractual disputes to court or explained why we need an adjudicator to act on their behalf. They do not need an adjudicator; they are perfectly big enough and bad enough to look after their own interests without needing an adjudicator to step in, and so are the supermarkets.

When there is an agreement between a huge multinational supermarket such as Asda, which is owned by Wal-Mart, and a huge multinational supplier such as Heinz or Walkers or Nestlé, let them get on with it. If there is then a row about who has broken a particular rule, let them get on and sort it out themselves. Believe you me, Asda needs Heinz products in its stores just as much as Heinz needs Asda to sell its products. It is a perfectly even arrangement between the two; the one could not manage without the other. Let them sort the disputes out between themselves. Why on earth are we legislating to get involved in those disputes? That is completely ridiculous. Members are arguing that the introduction of a groceries code adjudicator will help small suppliers, and supporting new clauses 1 or 2 will give them an opportunity to make it abundantly clear to the House that the Bill is designed to help the smaller suppliers to supermarkets.

I want to explain why I have used the figure of £500 million in new clause 1 and £1 billion in new clause 2, and why—with your permission, Mr Speaker—I shall put new clause 2 to a vote. I have listed some of the suppliers that would be covered by the £1 billion figure in new clause 2. The adjudicator will deal with retailers with a turnover of more than £1 billion. The Bill is effectively saying that other people need protecting from such huge organisations, and that they are too big not to have an unfair advantage in any contract negotiation. The Bill therefore puts in place a kind of backstop. My point is that if a supermarket with a turnover of £1 billion a year is deemed big enough to look after itself without any extra help or support, surely suppliers with a similar turnover are in exactly the same situation. If a supermarket with such a turnover is deemed too big to be trusted to negotiate properly, why would a supplier with a similar turnover need the protection of the adjudicator? Where on earth is the logic in that?

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

rose—

[Philip Davies]

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman is about to tell us.

[Ian Murray]

We have all been listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman, but I want to make two important points. First, his proposals are not backed by the industry itself. The Food and Drink Federation and the British Brands Group do not support the proposed restrictions in his new clauses. Secondly, although I have some sympathy with his wish to move further down the supply chain, his proposals were not accepted in Committee.

[Philip Davies]

That is an extraordinary intervention. The hon. Gentleman is saying that he is not minded to support my new clauses because the representatives of the food and drink industry, who represent massive suppliers, do not support them. The Opposition are not going to support them because they want to look after the interests of those massive organisations that pay the bills of the Food and Drink Federation. Can the hon. Gentleman not make a decision for himself on this matter? Has he not got the capability to understand the equation for himself? I will make it simple for him. Why do suppliers with a turnover of more than £1 billion need help, if a supermarket retailer with a turnover of more than £1 billion does not need help? It is a nonsensical position for anybody to hold.