NEW DEAL FOR BRITISH FARMER

Chronicle (Levin), 1 February 1947, Page 6

NEW DEAL FOR BRITISH FARMER

Vy'-I (Sppciai|Gqrdrespondent.)

t GUARANTEED PRICES TO AID , PRQMICTION

4 " LGNDON, Jan. 28. Dominion primary producers are likely to have a very close personal inter est.in the Agriculture Bill now in the FffQcess 0f its hrst reading in the House "of Commons. Inevitably the Bill raises the question of the place of the British fariner in relation to the Do.minions farmer in the British market. It is a question which, understandably the Government does not appear ready to answer at present. It was put twice to Mr. Williams in the course of the opening debate- on the iirst reading, on both occasions by Captain Crookshank (Conservative, Gainsborough), who led the Opposition 'S preliminary attaek upon the measure. On the iirst occasion Capt. Crookshank asked Mr. Williams point-blank, ' ' Do you or don 't you agree that what ever happens the home produeer must coine iirst, and the Empire produeer second. " Mr. Williams, gazing straight ahead, made no reply, despite obvious promptings by his neighbours on the Government benches. On the second occasion Captain Crookshank asked whether, if the Minister was prepared to agree that the home produeer must be the iirst consideration, he would adhere to that attitude when the question of Imperial preferences came up for revision, iu '■nnformity with the provisions of the American loan. Three Maln Provisions The Bill has three main provisions. It proposes to guarantee prices and markets for specilied periods, by macliinery sti'll to be devised. It proposes to give the Government the riglit to supervise inetticien't farmers, and, if necessary, to dispossess them from the land. Thirdly, it proposes to give the 8tate power to undertake agricultural deveiopment work which is beyond tiie resoi^rees of private capital. The Opposition has al ready indicated that it is substantially in agreement with the Government on the question of guaranteed prices and markets, though it would like to kuow more about how this is to be aehieved, but it is highly critical of. the wide powers which the Bill seeks to give the Governmeut. Mr. Williams sought to allay these fears. by making it plain that the supervision of inefticient or unproductive farms would be carried out by the Farmers' War Agricultural Committees, that in cases of alleged inefficiency the farms in question would be worked under supervision for oue year, and that only if there was no improvenient at the end of that time would the owner cr occupier be dispossessed. Even then, said the Minister, a dispossessed farmer would have the riglit of appeal to a special land tribuiial, whose decision would bo final and binding upon the Government. He contended that, under this systeni, the farmer could only be supervised and judged by his peors, but the "(5pposition 1 'expressed apprehensibn about the degree of influence the Governinent would exercise iu the matter, particularly in the appointment of tlie land tribuuals. Re~alation of Prices At present the British Government is paving roughly £400,000,000 annually iu food subsidies in order to keep down the prices of food toi the British COnsunier and to- pay .the' prices asked both by home and over,seas producers. About h'alf this sum goes to the British fa'rmer and haif to the overseas producers, including thos.e of the Dominions. It is recognised that this artificial regulation of prices imposes a very heavy burdeu upon the British taxpayer, and it was suggested by one of the Opposition speakers in the de bate that the Governnient should take steps to put the food position in its true light by renioving the subsidies and raising the prices of food. It is already plain, from the course of the debate, that the Opposition will pursue the question of the lionie versus the overseas produeer. Iu this conneetion Mr. Williams said: "We want cheap food, both at home and abroad — wherever we can get it — but we don't want cheap men, either here or elsewhere. " This statement niay pcrliaps be taken 'to imply that the Government is recoi\ciled to the faet that the increased costs of agriculture, both at home and abroad, must be refleeted in food prices. Whether this is better done by lereasing the food prices to the conumer or by levying taxation to pay subsidies is possibly au aeademic point. In the preamble to the Bill it speaks of "such parts of the food of the nation which it is desirable to produce in the United Kingdom. " The Opposition attacked this generalisation and asked the Government to indicate specifically what part of the market it proposes to allocate to the home produeer and what part to the overseas produeer. Further pressure for a more specifie desc'ription of the respeetive shares of the British market to be allocated to the British farmers and to the overseas farmers will obvionsly be exerted as tlie debate )iroceeds.