Mr Ralph Howell: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply and I wish him well with the proposals that he is bringing forward. They are long overdue.
Mr Ralph Howell: As it is a main plank of our policy that as many people as possible should stand on their own two feet, how does the Minister square the fact that in 1939, 3 million people were in receipt of rates rebates, that today over 5 million people receive it and that when the community charge comes into operation, 11 million people will be deemed to be unable to pay the full charge?
Mr Ralph Howell: How would my hon. Friend explain to my constituent, a lady of 72, who has a total income of £2,000 a year and about £13,000 capital, that she should pay exactly the same as the most wealthy person in north Norfolk?
Mr Ralph Howell: rose——
Mr Ralph Howell: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend——
Mr Ralph Howell: May I ask my right hon. Friend to stop bothering his head with SSAs, or whatever they are, and recognise that the scheme was flawed from the start and that nothing can repair it? Will he scrap the whole idea and replace it with a 6 per cent. charge on VAT, which everybody would pay and which would be totally fair?
Mr Ralph Howell: My right hon. Friend will agree that producers, particularly the hard-pressed cereals producers, will want to know what effect this will have on prices for the coming year. Can he give a forecast of what he expects the price increase will be? While I am glad to hear him restating his opposition to the co-responsibility levy, may I ask him to explain how that squares with his support for...
Mr Ralph Howell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many days' supply of grain he estimates will be in store at the end of July 1989 (a) in Britain and (b) in the world.
Mr Ralph Howell: I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he think these stock levels are adequate or does he agree with FAO that they are likely to be dangerously low?
Mr Ralph Howell: To ask the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the current level of world stocks of grain.
Mr Ralph Howell: While thanking my right hon. Friend for her reply, may I ask whether she is aware that the FAO thinks that world stocks of grain are dangerously low?
Mr Ralph Howell: I must declare an interest, as I have been a farmer for 43 years. There is greater uncertainty in the industry now than I can remember in the whole of that 43 years. I have listened to two Front Bench speeches. The speech of the hon. Member for South Shields (Dr. Clark) did nothing to reassure me. It is obvious that the Labour party has no answer to our problems. Neither am I satisfied with...
Mr Ralph Howell: I am concerned that my right hon. Friend is still suggesting that we should be cutting back on cereals. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, cereal stocks are at a dangerously low level. The FAO is calling for additional production of 200 million tonnes to bring stocks up to the safety level. It is calling for another 100 million tonnes to be produced to allow for the...
Mr Ralph Howell: May I tell my right hon. and learned Friend how pleased I am to hear that all hospitals will be eligible to opt out, not just the large ones? Will he consider the opting out of Wells and district cottage hospital in my constituency, which would be a most excellent step to take?
Mr Ralph Howell: rose in his place and claimed to move, That the Question be now put.
Mr Ralph Howell: Why does the hon. Gentleman suggest that it must be a plastic card? Nothing in the Bill states that it is to be a plastic card. I have been at pains to explain that everything on the card should be readable by the person who holds it. If there is a space on the card for voluntary information, it would be filled in at the request of the holder.
Mr Ralph Howell: Is my hon. Friend aware that Denmark has a national register of all residents and that there are identity cards in Sweden—I have seen them—on which it is possible to have a credit card number included voluntarily? When the Minister says that identity cards are not the norm, I must advise him that far more countries in the EEC have a card of some description than do not. Only Holland,...
Mr Ralph Howell: The fact is that crime has been increasing year by year. The latest figures are for 1987, and they are higher than those for 1986. Although my hon. Friend is correct in saying that there has been some reduction in such crimes as burglary and theft, the fact is that violent crime is still increasing. A lot of crime is not reported, simply because the detection rate in the case of burglary and...
Mr Ralph Howell: How can my hon. Friend say that, because the cards were abolished in 1952, no good could have been done? My hon. Friend cannot prove that. We do not know whether the crime rate would have been as great as it is now had we continued to have those cards. Will my hon. Friend address himself to what he would do to stop the increase in crime—or does he feel that it is at an acceptable level?
Mr Ralph Howell: I explained that the intention behind the Bill as drafted, whether or not it is properly drafted, is that the law will remain the same as it is now. If he has reasonable cause to do, a constable may ask any person to identify himself. That is an easier means of identifying oneself than at present.
