asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what effect he estimates the proposed increase in common agricultural policy prices will have on the United Kingdom consumption of each of the products in question.

Although there may be some slight short-run effect on United Kingdom consumption of the most directly affected products, it seems unlikely that there will be any significant effect on total United Kingdom food consumption. As I indicated in my statement to the House on 19 May, the consumer benefit of the beef premium scheme, sheepmeat regime and the continuation of the butter subsidy will be worth some hundreds of millions of pounds, depending on the market situation.