Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 29th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

We are taking this issue very seriously and are working hard on it. We have just made the announcement about the groceries code adjudicator; we are working closely with HMRC and the Rural Payments Agency; and we are also working on our new countryside productivity scheme, which will be open to dairy farmers to help improve productivity and bring in the capital investment these farms need. We are working hard on this issue, because we know how difficult it is. I have met dairy farmers in Cornwall, Nottinghamshire and Norfolk to discuss it.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T8. Between April and September last year, nearly 500,000 people were referred to a Trussell Trust food bank—a rise of 38% on the year before. When will the Secretary of State, as the Minister responsible for food poverty, say to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Chancellor that it is targets for benefits sanctions and the failure properly to raise the minimum wage that are responsible for this dreadful situation?

Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 17th July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Elizabeth Truss]

I thank my hon. Friend for his congratulations and look forward to working with him on this issue, as I know that he is passionate about getting rid of the red tape that hampers farmers in doing what they do best. We intend to improve or remove 56% of the 516 regulations examined by the agriculture red tape challenge. As Secretary of State I want to continue to work to get rid of red tape and box-ticking, focusing instead on the outcomes we deliver in economic growth and environmental improvements. It is the outcomes that matter, not jumping through hoops.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

10. How much her Department has spent on adaptation to climate change; and if she will make a statement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson)]

DEFRA spent £8.3 million in 2013-14 under its core adapting to climate change programme. This included £4.1 million to the Met Office Hadley centre for the provision of world-leading climate science, and £1.6 million to the Environment Agency’s climate ready support service to help organisations across England adapt to a changing climate. Adaptation is mainstreamed across Government. Other Departments and other DEFRA programmes also fund activities that build resilience to climate change.

[Mr Bain]

But with the previous Secretary of State having raided the adaptation budget by 40% in the space of just one year, it is actions, not words, that count. Will the Minister take this opportunity to depart from the sceptical views of his former boss, recognise that climate change is a serious threat to our national security and reinstate flood prevention as a key departmental priority?

[Dan Rogerson]

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that actions speak louder than words, which is why this Government are spending £3.2 billion on flood prevention and coastal erosion risk management, compared with £2.7 billion in the previous Parliament.

Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 21st November 2013 Commons Chamber

[George Eustice]

We have today made clear our intention to designate 27 sites as marine conservation zones. I confirm that Hythe bay is not currently one of those, although we are doing further work on that and holding further discussions with stakeholders. We hope to make a decision on Hythe bay in the new year. One interesting area we are considering is whether we might reach an agreement with stakeholders by looking at zoning that site, rather than having it as an entire block.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

4. What steps he is taking to reduce levels of food waste.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson)]

We are working with food manufacturers and retailers to reduce food waste under the Courtauld commitment, which is targeting a further reduction of 1.1 million tonnes in food and packaging waste. We have also launched an agreement with the hospitality sector, which includes restaurants, pubs and canteens. We are helping households waste less and save money through the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign.

[Mr Bain]

I am grateful for that answer, but does the Minister not accept that with food prices rising nearly five times as quickly as wages under the Government’s cost of living crisis, the most pressing issue for millions of families across the country this winter will be finding enough food to eat, not throwing it away?

[Dan Rogerson]

Obviously, we want affordable choices for people across the retail sector, and we have an efficient retail sector in this country. Excellent local food is also produced, and we hope that people will take advantage of what is provided locally to ensure they are well fed over the winter. Having said that, it is important to consider waste because if we do not look at what is being wasted across the supply chain, we will be wasting resources that could be used to help feed people, and that will also have an effect on the environment.

Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 4th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

It is simple: the funds will be spent on projects related to agriculture and the rural environment and economy, and farmers both small and large will benefit from the transfer of the funds.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

5. What assessment he has made of trends in levels of food insecurity in the UK since 2010.

[Andy Sawford (Corby) (Lab/Co-op)]

11. What assessment he has made of trends in levels of food insecurity in the UK since 2010.

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr David Heath)]

The UK food security assessment published in 2010 is a detailed analysis of the global and domestic factors affecting UK food security, including productivity, supply, affordability and safety. The Government continue to monitor trends, but overall the assessment concludes that the UK is well placed to deal with future challenges. In 2012, officials reassessed the report and concluded that it still represents a robust analysis of food security in the UK.

[Mr Bain]

This week, The Economist’s global food security index ranked the UK 20th this year, behind Germany, France and Spain. Can the Minister confirm that food prices in this country rose by more than 4% in the year to May? In the absence of a strong plan from the Government to boost lower-cost, home-grown food, is it not the poorest who bear the largest share of the burden?

Common Fisheries Policy

William Bain Excerpts

Monday 17th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

My hon. Friend raises a very good point about regionalisation—and one that detained us a long time as we tried to find a solution. Under the Commission’s original text, which could have had a centralising effect, if the countries around a sea basin—the North sea, for example—failed to agree, the power to decide on the technical measures would have been taken by the Commission. We thought that that was wrong, so we developed—under the leadership of my Department, I have to say—an idea that found its way into the text. Under this provision, a measure becomes law where there is agreement among all the countries fishing a particular sea basin, and where they cannot agree, the matter is determined by co-decision. That is a much better way forward. Throughout these discussions, I have always said, “I would never start from here”. We are trying to improve something that is very, very wrong. We are going to make it halfway right, however, and there is still much more work to do.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Can the Minister explain how the small-scale fishing fleet in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom will benefit from the adoption of this deal by the EU and by national Parliaments?

[Richard Benyon]

Things will improve on the wider scale because the commitment to maximum sustainable yield, fishing sustainably and more sensible management will lead to increased biomass in the sea, so there will be more fish for the small-scale fishing fleet to catch. However, the one thing I find as I go round the coast—the hon. Gentleman will know about this from when he was the shadow spokesman—is how remote the decision-making process is. I have sat up in the small hours of the morning discussing mesh sizes for fishing nets that will be used off the north-west coast of Scotland, 1,000 miles from where I was sitting. I am not an expert and nor was the Commission official who was having the discussion with me, but the fishermen who fish there are. They will now be part of that decision-making process. They will be able to drive those technical details in an effective way, not one that is so remote from how they fish.

Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 16th May 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend speaks with real authority on this matter, having been chief executive of the National Pony Society before entering the House. That is one of the 75 bodies that issues horse passports. She makes the very sensible point that more than 1 million passports have already been issued. We are working with the European Commission, which has sensibly suggested that we move to a single database, and we will obviously work closely with the passport-issuing organisations as we work out the transition to the new system.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

On the question of having a single process across Europe for dealing with horse passport fraud, does the Secretary of State believe that it would be harder or easier to tackle such fraud if we left the European Union?

[Mr Paterson]

We are discussing this matter immediately with the European Commission, which has put forward the sensible proposal that member states should have a central database. The issue might be subject to renegotiation at a later stage, at which point I would love to hear the hon. Gentleman’s opinion on whether he would push his party leader to back us in giving the British people a choice on the renegotiated settlement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Paterson]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. The UK is on track to meet its 50% household waste recycling target. Decisions on collection regimes are for local councils to make, taking into account local circumstances, including local logistics, the characteristics of the area and the service that local people want. The Government are encouraging a number of councils to run incentive schemes for various kinds of recycling collection, through the reward and recognition scheme and the weekly collection support scheme. The Government have also introduced higher packaging recycling targets for business, which will help to increase household recycling rates.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

T3. A draft Bill on banning wild animals in circuses was published by DEFRA in April but did not feature in the Queen’s Speech. Will the Secretary of State confirm whether that Bill will be introduced in this House in this Session or not?

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mr David Heath)]

The Bill has been introduced to the House for pre-legislative scrutiny. It is in the hands of the Select Committee at the moment, and I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of the Select Committee’s considerations.

Oral Answers to Questions

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 7th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I have discussed the issue with Commissioner Borg and other Ministers, because there is a significant trade in horses across the continent of Europe. My hon. Friend and his constituents are absolutely right: if they buy a product that is sold as processed beef, regardless of price, it should be processed beef. Any adulteration with any other material is a conspiracy to defraud the public, and we are determined to get to the bottom of it.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

15. The export of Scotch beef and Scotch beef-based food products is vital for the manufacturing base in the Scottish economy. What discussions is the Secretary of State having with the Scottish Government to ensure that producers and consumers can have confidence in the products they buy?

[Mr Paterson]

My hon. Friend the Minister of State attended the 100th anniversary celebrations of the National Farmers Union of Scotland, and I have discussed the matter with Minster Lochhead. We both agree that we have a job to do, working closely with the industry, to promote strict traceability and production systems. I was interested to note that at the NFU conference last week in Birmingham that people really had their tails up because there is now an opportunity, with the public being so interested in the supply chain, to stress how good our industry is and how reliable our products are.

Horsemeat (Food Fraud)

William Bain Excerpts

Monday 11th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

Yes, my hon. Friend is absolutely right. I think that that question threw the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mary Creagh) when she was on Andrew Neil’s programme yesterday.

The important point that my hon. Friend has made is that the Food Standards Agency is rightly targeting its efforts on problems that might be prejudicial to health. Until the case in Ireland came up, very recently, there had not been a problem with horsemeat. This is a very recent evolution, and until now the FSA has rightly been concentrating all its efforts on health problems.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Although the issue of food safety in Scotland has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament, this Government had responsibility during the discussions that were held with the European Commission on Scotland’s behalf. When the Secretary of State next speaks to the Scottish Agriculture Minister, will he pass on the view of the Scottish people that it is not good enough simply to test products that are manufactured in Scotland, and that goods that are retailed in Scotland must be tested as well? Do not consumers in Scotland deserve the same protection as people in the rest of the United Kingdom?

[Mr Paterson]

As I think I said in answer to an earlier question, I had a very constructive conversation yesterday with Richard Lochhead, the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, and he wrote me a letter today. We will work together closely, and I will include him in discussions with the FSA. However, the hon. Gentleman, like some of his colleagues, has missed the point. The ultimate arbiters when it comes to the safety, quality and integrity of food products are the retailers. The hon. Gentleman must get his head around the fact that it is the retailers who are ultimately responsible.

Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill [Lords]

William Bain Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

I seem to be falling into the rather pleasant habit, in both this Chamber and Westminster Hall, of following the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish) in debates on food policy. That is agreeable because he speaks with a great deal of authority and good sense, and I broadly concur with his remarks.

I represent one of the most urban constituencies of all Members who have contributed to the debate so far. There is farm land in the northern tip of my constituency, along the boundary that I share with the Under-Secretary, but the contribution made by my constituency to the food industry comes primarily from the major fruit trading market in Blochairn, two major bakers and bread makers in Lambhill and Sighthill, two major supermarkets in Sighthill and Robroyston, and the hundreds of constituents who work in the food retail, manufacturing and processing industries on modest, if not relatively low, wages. They make a huge contribution to the food that ends up on our plates.

I was struck by a point made by the hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie) who reminded the House that in the past, weak regulation and regulators with insufficient powers have created problems in the markets. She emphasised the problems that have emerged in the energy markets—we all hear from constituents who are struggling with soaring electricity and gas bills—and the same may prove true in the media sector. This debate has shown that parties across the House do not want the same thing to happen in the food production and retail sectors, and I hope that Ministers will pick up on the need for the groceries code adjudicator to have proper powers, including the power to fine. We have seen in the home of capitalism—the United States—that in markets where there has been price fixing, the primary sanction used to bring companies engaged in that to account has been the use and imposition of fines.

With rapidly rising food prices becoming one of the biggest pressures on the living standards of millions of people across the country, our consideration of this long-overdue Bill to introduce a groceries code adjudicator is not before time. It is important that we continue to bear down on anti-competitive practices within the large food retail sector and food supply chains, which were so clearly identified in the Competition Commission’s 2008 report.

The Bill matters because food is the largest part of the UK’s manufacturing sector. It has a turnover of £76 billion a year and accounts for 16% of all manufacturing output. However, the grocery market is dominated by four major retailers, the sales of which totalled 85% of the £143 billion industry turnover in 2009; Asda, Morrisons, Tesco and Sainsbury’s accounted for two thirds of the total.

As the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton and other hon. Members have said, the economics of sustainable food production will be crucial in resolving the problem of increasing food prices and ensuring that producers and consumers get a fairer deal. In 2008, the Competition Commission said that

“the transfer of excessive risk and unexpected costs by grocery retailers to their suppliers through various supply chain practices if unchecked will have an adverse effect on investment and innovation in the supply chain, and ultimately on consumers”.

I agree. On the impact that that has on food prices, Office for National Statistics data published last week show that, since 2005, the price of fruit has risen 28%; the price of vegetables is up by more than 40%; and the cost of fish has increased by 56%. Real wages are falling at around 4% a year, but food costs are going up by much more than the headline consumer prices index of inflation, so action to make supply chains more efficient to bear down on rapidly rising bills will be a key indicator of the success of the new adjudicator. Big supermarket chains have expanded into the convenience store market and compete directly with smaller chains and independent stores. It is important that the new adjudicator roots out any anti-competitive practices.

The purpose of the Bill is welcome. Its provisions owe a great deal to the work of my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central (Hilary Benn) and his team from their period in government, and my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Albert Owen), who spoke earlier in the debate. However, as has been said, both Back-Bench Members and Opposition Front Benchers have concerns about the details, which we believe should be amended in Committee. The major concern is the lack of an independent power for the adjudicator to fine from day one for serious breaches of the code—a step that was recommended by the Competition Commission in 2008. In its report of that year and in its 2000 report, the commission identified two major breaches of the code by large retailers, but the Bill permits the adjudicator to levy fines only with the consent of the Secretary of State following an order, and further consultation and review. As many hon. Members have noted, there might be a delay of a year or 18 months before the power to fine is activated. What other public official in the nature of an ombudsman, which the office of groceries code adjudicator surely is, has such weak powers of enforcement and such a lack of independence from Ministers?

The code of practice applies only to supply contracts between individual suppliers and major retailers with a turnover in excess of £1 billion a year. It does not deal with supply chain abuses at more intermediate levels, such as regional wholesalers and processors. The Bill should be amended to allow the adjudicator to monitor fair dealing throughout the supply chain, and ensure that suppliers are protected from the threat of retaliation if they produce evidence of unfair practices.

Hon. Members have referred in the debate to the practice of below-cost selling—my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) referred to it in an intervention, and I suspect he might do so again in his speech proper. The practice involves a retailer selling an item for less than its input costs, as illustrated by the notorious example of supermarkets selling loaves of white sliced bread for 7p. The practice, which has been prohibited in France, Germany, Spain and Portugal, can force suppliers out of business, and has also caused huge pressures in other sectors, such as the dairy industry.

The Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Select Committee on Business, Innovation and Skills have called on the Government to increase the powers available to the adjudicator, to widen the range of those who can bring forward complaints, such as trade associations, trade unions and pressure groups—I welcome the clarification we have received on that point—and to put more detail in the Bill on the power to fine. Those are all reasonable and constructive suggestions by two influential Select Committees. I do not believe I have heard a single hon. Member from the Back Benches, or from the Opposition Front Bench, who has dissented from those views, so I hope that the Government will reflect on the unified outcome of the debate and announce that when the Bill goes to Committee today they will accept and table amendments that reflect the will of the House as expressed today.

Although clause 7 affords the adjudicator the power to recommend changes to retailers, there are no powers for the adjudicator to compel action by retailers who do not take remedial steps at first instance. Similarly, clause 11 permits, but does not require, the adjudicator to provide advice to suppliers and large retailers on matters relating to the code. It seems somewhat counter-productive for the adjudicator, as part of his or her statutory duties, not to be required to publish guidance on how retailers can best comply with the terms implicit within the code.

Providing sufficient protection of anonymity for those bringing complaints before the adjudicator will be crucial to enforceability. National Farmers Union Scotland has argued that the code has so far proven ineffective because of the fear that complainants may be identified. Its view, therefore, is that complaints should be capable of investigation on the basis of credible evidence, whatever its source. I hope the Ministers, in winding up, will respond to the views that NFU Scotland has put forward in its submissions on the Bill.

I hope the Bill will secure an improvement in the living standards of our dairy farmers, which have been under such pressure in recent years, particularly in Scotland. Although one of the major processors, Müller-Wiseman, has recently increased standard farm-gate milk prices to just over 30p per litre during this winter period, given the increased costs facing dairy farmers that is not far from the absolute minimum that farmers in Scotland need to make ends meet. I hope that the adjudicator, when set up with sufficient powers, will be able to deal with the pressures that cause significant hardship to dairy farmers in Scotland and, as we have heard, in every part of the United Kingdom.

This is a good Bill. As hon. Members have said, we wish it well in Committee. I hope, in conclusion, that Ministers will reflect on what has been a good-tempered and consensual debate, take the positive suggestions offered by the House and provide a system that allows abuses in the market to be tackled and rooted out at source. That leads to one conclusion: the ability of the adjudicator to fine, without an order from the Secretary of State—an ability that must be in the Bill.

Common Agricultural Policy

William Bain Excerpts

Thursday 1st November 2012 Westminster Hall

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure, Mr Chope, to serve under your chairmanship again. I congratulate the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh), Chair of the Select Committee, on a superb report. It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish). I was particularly struck by his remarks about food prices. He and all right hon. and hon. Members know that there is no greater pressure on household budgets at the moment than the rising cost of food.

The CAP can do a huge amount to limit that pressure, but the EU could make a more concerted effort, through the G20, to look at the position limits that some major financial institutions hold in the food futures markets. When the Better Markets campaign visited the Houses of Parliament last year, I was struck to find out that the share of speculation in food futures markets has risen from a third to two thirds, and that the share of liquidity being injected into the market has fallen from two thirds to one third as a result. There is clear evidence that speculation at global level is driving increases in food prices. We know that that hurts consumers in Europe, and it hurts people in Africa particularly. There has been a crisis in the horn of Africa over the last couple of years when food prices rose by 70%, so I hope that the debate spurs the Government on to regulating and calling for proper position limits as the US Administration have done on food prices.

Given the increased public awareness and scrutiny of the multi-annual financial framework for 2014-20, the debate is extremely timely. Spending on the CAP has reached €55 billion a year, or 41% of the EU’s total budget, although that is set to reduce to 32% by next year. That sum has been frozen in real terms until 2013, but it is still far higher than what the EU spends on science, innovation and promoting research and development. Given that unemployment in the EU stands at more than 25 million, with low growth and weak economic demand across the Union for the foreseeable future, we must question whether that is sustainable.

Open Europe’s report in February demonstrated that there is no link in the CAP between a country’s wealth and how much it receives from the CAP. For example, Latvia receives £115 per hectare—the least of all member states—from EU direct subsidies despite the average farmer’s income being only 35% of the EU average. Lithuania, whose farmers are the poorest in Europe in absolute terms, receives the third least from the CAP. In contrast, wealthier member states such as Ireland and France continue to do well out of the CAP. Despite a series of reforms, those inequalities in the system remain, which is why the discussions and negotiations of the financial framework should be more radical.

On the environment, in the UK the share of the CAP spent on explicit environmental aims and protection is only 13.6%. That is caused partly by the fact that the CAP fails to differentiate between different types of land, and it actively channels public resources away from those areas in which the biggest environmental gain could be generated.

There are four main aims that a comprehensive reform of the CAP should attempt to achieve in this financial framework period. First, it must generate greater food security and food price stability. The Commission said, in the proposals that the Committee evaluated in its report, that there is a strategic interest for the EU in retaining significant food self-sufficiency. As Commissioner Barnier said, during his time as France’s Agriculture Minister,

“if Europe were to cut back on its agricultural production then the increase in its own food imports would contribute significantly to a worldwide increase in food prices.”

In other words, maintaining Europe’s farm outputs at current levels also contributes to the stabilisation of global food markets. There is some truth in that, but the question is whether the design of the CAP actively helps or hinders that aim.

Secondly, the CAP must remove trade-distorting barriers and enable investment in science and innovation in agriculture to increase, so that we see higher growth, innovation and productivity in the sector. Thirdly, reform of the CAP should increase the contribution that food supply chains make to the EU’s targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector, and also improve standards of environmental stewardship. Finally, CAP reform should promote greater trade justice in the EU’s relationships with the developing world.

One approach specifically identified by the EU and the Commission is the provision of basic income support payments—which could be uniform per region, but not flat rate across the EU, based on new criteria and capped at a certain amount—and a compensatory environmental payment for additional actions that improve stewardship; that includes crop rotation, permanent pasture or even an ecological set-aside. I note that the Committee has expressed concerns about the detail of those proposals, so I hope that the Minister can demonstrate that, alongside the positive benefits that there will be from environmental stewardship, farmers will not be unduly inconvenienced by such measures.

On market measures, the Commission’s plans identify some scope for streamlining and simplifying measures, and possibly introducing new elements in terms of better functioning of the food chain. Whereas market measures accounted for 92% of CAP spending as recently as 1991, just 7% of the CAP budget was spent on them in 2009. Eliminating trade-distorting subsidies is not simply about increasing growth; it is also a matter of justice for the developing world. The combined US and EU subsidies for cotton production over the past nine years amounted to $32 billion, which has had the effect of driving down global cotton prices, reducing demand for west African cotton, and restricting that region’s ability to export its way out of poverty. The EU pays out approximately $2.50 per pound in cotton subsidies to support 100,000 cotton growers in the EU; that is far more than the market price for cotton. Fairtrade estimates that those subsidies have resulted in a lost income of $250 million a year for west African cotton-producing nations. The EU could therefore fulfil the pledge that it made during the World Trade Organisation negotiations to eliminate those unfair subsidies and ensure that the provisions from the treaty of Lisbon are implemented to assess the effect of EU policies on developing nations. That needs to happen in the CAP as well.

The CAP must be about showing how agriculture can change and improve through investment in research and development. The 2011 UN Food and Agriculture Organisation report recommended a major increase in investment in research and development. We need a CAP that rewards farmers and others in the food supply sector who make the right investments in photovoltaic cells, wind farms, better water-recycling policies, and better use of soil. It is true to say that converting a CAP that, at the moment, pays perhaps too much for pure production instead of investment will be an important part of the reforms.

Finally, I turn to the role of tariffs. Open Europe estimated that

“the average external tariff paid on imports from countries without special arrangements with the EU”—

those that do not have most-favoured nation status—

“range between 18% and 28% of the value of the good imported... This is much higher than the average 3% tariff paid on manufactured goods.”

Any proper programme of CAP reform must look at the effect that the tariffs have on imports, and particularly, on the economies of places such as Africa, where clearly, if they are to see an improvement in living standards, they need to have fairer access to our markets than our distorted trade rules provide.

Those are the aims that I believe we should have in a comprehensive and radical set of CAP reform proposals. The Government will have the Opposition’s support if they pursue a programme in Europe of securing greater partners for that, and I wish them success. However, they will face scrutiny from us to ensure that they achieve their aims and that we secure an agricultural policy in Europe that is better for the environment and for the consumer.