Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Thursday 24th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am just sorry that the Labour party wants to head back to the 1940s. I see a dynamic, growing structure in our rural economy. In contrast, will the hon. Gentleman join me in celebrating the £19 million investment by Müller Dairy in a butter plant that will turn 100 million litres of milk into 45 million tonnes of butter? That will stop import substitution and bring jobs to rural areas. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) should preserve his melodic tones for when he is on his feet, rather than in his seat.

[Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)]

The coalition Government have brought a welcome fresh impetus to rural economic growth, but skills shortages are still a problem. Will the Secretary of State share with the House the benefits that the skills and knowledge framework fund of £20 million could bring?

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[Mr Heath]

I certainly hope that we will be in a position to do that. I also think that there are some key issues about flock management; the key is whether infectious midges are around at the same time ewes are in lamb. As I said, if infection occurs before the ewe is pregnant, that provides immunity, rather than disease, so we might also need to take into account synchronisation in production and in the tupping period. I am shortly to bring together representatives of the sheep and cattle industries and vets so that we can discuss some of these issues.

[Mr Speaker]

I am grateful to the Minister for his tutorial on that matter.

[Heather Wheeler (South Derbyshire) (Con)]

9. What steps he is taking to assist the dairy farming sector.

[Heather Wheeler]

I thank the Minister for his reply. I was disappointed to see Arla Milk Link’s recent milk price reduction of 0.23p per litre. Farmers were given just one day’s notice of the cut, but they would have to give between 12 and 15 months’ notice before being able to leave their contract. That is against the commitments made in the voluntary code of practice and runs counter to the good progress made in the past few months by other processors, such as Dairy Crest, which is based in my constituency of South Derbyshire. For the voluntary code to work, we must ensure that there is a level playing field—

[Mr Speaker]

We need a question immediately.

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[Mr Heath]

I think that the hon. Lady misunderstands what the national equine database did. The records of horse passports continue to be retained by the passport issuing agencies. There is no difficulty in tracing the use of a horse passport, so to suggest that the national equine database was required to do that is simply erroneous.

[Mr Speaker]

We must now speed up.

[Guto Bebb (Aberconwy) (Con)]

T2. One of the largest employers in my constituency is Edwards of Conwy, the makers of the finest sausages in the United Kingdom. It has recently won a significant new export order to Malaysia. What work can the Department do to ensure that this country’s fantastic food producers get as much support as possible to export our product?

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[Michael Fabricant]

And as my hon. Friend says, that is shocking. Will the commission investigate precisely why we are in this appalling state of affairs, and explain what it is going to do about it?

[Mr Speaker]

Given the illustrious post held by the hon. Member for South West Devon (Mr Streeter), I am not sure it is fitting to wave a pen at him.

[Mr Streeter]

I completely agree and I did feel rather intimidated, although it was only a cheap biro. My hon. Friend raises an important point that many colleagues on all sides of the House have raised over the years, and it is time for action to be taken. Any change in the law or procedure is obviously a matter for the Government and this House, not the Electoral Commission. However, I am persuaded by my hon. Friend’s rhetoric that more needs to be done, perhaps by conducting some qualitative research into why more Brits living abroad do not register to vote. I will make that suggestion to the Electoral Commission, and it will be up to that commission whether to take it forward.