asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will assess the implications for British agriculture of the forecast increase in 1982–83 of almost 50 per cent. in expenditure by the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce on market regulation under the common agricultural policy compared with the expenditure for 1981–82.

Expenditure by the board enables United Kingdom farmers to secure fair returns in line with agreed Community support prices. It is inherently variable because of the instability of unregulated commodity markets and the effect on production of weather and other external factors.