The SNP’s Westminster Agriculture
spokesperson was speaking in a debate at the House of Commons on
Wednesday. Dr Whiteford took the
opportunity of this first outing for the new UK Agriculture Minister David
Heath to urge the Minister to “seize
that opportunity to bring transparency and fairness to the dairy pricing regime
and take action to ensure fair prices for all our food producers caught in
over-concentrated and uncompetitive supply chains”.
Speaking
during the debate, Dr Whiteford said:
“Farmers are angry, and it is
heartbreaking for people who get up at 4.30 every morning to milk their cows to
be working for nothing. They are seeing their livelihood and way of life
destroyed, so that supermarkets can post multi-billion pound annual profits.
“The
dairy farmers in Banff
and Buchan have little choice about where to send their milk for
processing—most of it goes to Wiseman because there is no other large processor
locally. That lack of competition compounds the inherent imbalance in the
relationship between suppliers, processors and retailers. The suppliers are in
an invidious position: they simply do not have enough negotiating muscle.
“Whatever
steps we take to mitigate the worst excesses of irresponsible corporate
behaviour, we also need to address the underlying problems. A window of
opportunity has been created by the actions of dairy farmers and the high
profile that they have generated this summer, allowing Ministers to grasp the
nettle of supply chains. I hope that the new Minister will seize that
opportunity to bring transparency and fairness to the dairy pricing regime and
take action to ensure fair prices for all our food producers caught in
over-concentrated and uncompetitive supply chains.”