Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill [Lords]

I will, as I am aware that I am now addressing one of the main topics of debate.

The Minister will be aware that many constituents have written to their Members of Parliament abo...

I do not agree with that characterisation. I think the adjudicator will be able to make a real di...

I greatly welcome this Bill and I hope it makes good progress through the House. The Minister emp...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are introducing the adjudicator because of the benefits it...

Sometimes these commercial operators try to crowd out competitors using pretty dodgy means. When ...

If information is not provided to the groceries code adjudicator, that will constitute an offence...

But one problem is that big corporations quite deliberately hide things from adjudicators. Unless...

The hon. Gentleman is making a distinct bid to be on the Bill Committee, and the usual channels w...

rose—

I should like to make a little progress, but I will then give way to hon. Members. My hon. Friend...

rose—

I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives, who has worked on this issue for many ...

I very much welcome the measure, and I am content that it has the investigatory powers to address...

The adjudicator will be in place and, as has been outlined, the code is already legally binding. ...

rose—

I shall give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), and then...

Those of us who are concerned about fair trade for farmers greatly welcome the Bill. It attempts ...

My hon. Friend makes a couple of important points and I know that he is an assiduous campaigner o...

I strongly welcome the measure and commend my hon. Friend and those on the Government Front Bench...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and for his support for the Bill. The code is already...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will certainly give way to the Chair of the Business, Skills and Innovation Committee.

I thank the hon. Lady; I recognise that she has given way several times already. I delayed my int...

I will happily confirm the reference in that clause:

“When carrying out an investigation th...

Will the Minister give way on that point?

I am still responding to the earlier question, but if the hon. Gentleman will have a little patie...

On that point—

I will make a little progress, and then I will give way.

The direct or indirect suppliers w...

The Minister refers to blacklisting, when suppliers will be disadvantaged by coming forward. Can ...

Clause 18 provides that there is a duty on the adjudicator to protect confidentiality. That goes ...

This welcome legislation, like that which introduced the Gangmasters Licensing Authority some yea...

Consultation is taking place on that measure. My hon. Friend the Minister of State who is summing...

The Minister knows that the adjudicator cannot do any of those things until after they have publi...

The hon. Gentleman expresses an understandable desire to make sure that the role of adjudicator c...

My hon. Friend mentioned recommendations on possible changes that the adjudicator could make to t...

It is not envisaged that such changes would necessarily be wide-ranging, because the role of adju...

I declare an interest as chair of the trustees of the Traidcraft Foundation, which represents pro...

I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s point, which organisations such as Traidcraft have put fo...

Although I appreciate that the adjudicator will have the power to recover their investigatory cos...

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. If the Secretary of State decides that an order needs to...

Is it not the case that the Competition Commission inquiry back in 2008 found that more than a de...

It is important to bear in mind that this will be an independent adjudicator who will conduct an ...

Does the Minister not realise that the code makes absolutely no reference to the need to address ...

The hon. Gentleman raises serious issues, not least that of legality and human trafficking. If th...

I reassure the hon. Lady that the Gangmasters Licensing Authority is doing a first-rate job at ad...

I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution. He makes his point forcefully.

I believe that ...

I welcome the Bill’s focus on the role of the adjudicator in enforcing the groceries code. If the...

Absolutely. Morally, it is incumbent on anyone who comes across evidence of appalling crimes, suc...

Will the Minister give way?

If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, I will make a little progress, because he has already inte...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way to the hon. Lady, although I am aware that other Members wish to speak.

Under what circumstances would the Secretary of State consider bringing in the power to raise fin...

I hope that the hon. Lady will understand that I am not going to give an exhaustive list. If the ...

Was it an actual dog?

It was a man in a dog suit, rather than an actual dog. The event was organised by Traidcraft, Act...

Will the Minister give way?

I am coming to a conclusion, so I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand it if I do not give way...

I did not realise that we could bring toys to the Dispatch Box. If I had known, I might have brou...

Of course, I also used those words when Labour was in power because, as the hon. Gentleman knows,...

I am delighted with that intervention because we introduced the code, on which the adjudicator wi...

I do not want the debate to degenerate into a party political spat, but to put the record straigh...

The code is there for everyone to see, and was introduced before the general election. The next p...

As my hon. Friend will have heard in my earlier intervention, having read through the code it see...

I know that my hon. Friend has worked on the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, and we will take th...

Given those statistics, does the hon. Gentleman believe that food producers will feel emboldened ...

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We need proper sanctions—we need to take the carrot-and-s...

The only contention between the Government and Opposition is whether fines should be available at...

The hon. Gentleman brings a great deal of experience of the sector to the House. I am not convinc...

Certainly, when I have spoken with supermarket chief executives I have challenged them. They some...

Absolutely. The hon. Gentleman makes a critical point, but the point is the full plethora of sanc...

Just so we know the terms of debate, will the hon. Gentleman outline how a big a fine he thinks w...

That should be in the hands of the adjudicator. We are asking the adjudicator to do a job to asse...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that those charged with the responsibility for spreading the messag...

That is a wonderful point, and I think we now have our second candidate for the Committee—or give...

The hon. Gentleman, who appears to be moving towards the end of his speech, mentioned carrots. Th...

The hon. Gentleman raises a critical point, because naming and shaming did not work for the dairy...

It concerns me that the hon. Gentleman has just said that the improvement in the dairy farmers’ r...

I take the hon. Gentleman’s point. The point I am making—I think his hon. Friend the Member for S...

Traidcraft and others have raised a point relating to the confidentiality of those who report the...

We will have to explore that matter in detail in Committee, because there is confusion in the ind...

rose—

Order. We will start with a time limit of 15 minutes on Back-Bench speeches, with the usual injur...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray). I should like ...

The hon. Lady makes a vital point. If a potato processor or person producing potatoes in Northern...

The hon. Gentleman reaffirms my point very eloquently. He would probably share my view—and I hope...

Clause 4 makes it clear that the adjudicator can conduct an investigation

“if the Adjudicat...

That is most welcome, although obviously, under the new powers that Select Committees have, we sh...

I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Miss McIntosh), who, as ever, spe...

I welcome this Bill’s Second Reading. As Conservatives, we believe in free and fair markets, but ...

The problem, as my hon. Friend sets out, is very serious—it is almost commercial bullying. Does h...

I absolutely agree. One of the big improvements made to the Bill in the Lords was the extension o...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that it also happens the other way? I have come across cases in wh...

I absolutely agree, and that is why the Bill is so important. Over the past 20 years, there has b...

The production of food is our most important industry. Let us pause and think about that for one ...

This is an eagerly awaited moment, and it is a very welcome one for Members from all parties. I s...

I first declare an interest. I am a Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for West Bromwic...

In many constituencies, such as mine, which is predominantly rural, people only have a choice bet...

My hon. Friend makes an important point, which I was going to come on to. An individual’s shoppin...

Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that the opposite might be true, in that a supermarket whose br...

The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. I am sure that one could develop an argument along...

The best example of that is that when the Competition Commission found that a supermarket was red...

That is a form of advertising that could, in certain situations, benefit a retailer.

It is ...

It is a pleasure to follow the Chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, the hon. M...

On that point, there cannot be a more passionately felt issue than animal welfare. Does the hon. ...

There is evidence and evidence to counter it on all sides, and that takes us to a point that the ...

Let me clarify to the House that the adjudicator will look at breaches of the code from when it c...

I am grateful to the Minister for that clarification, although I am also disappointed. A lot of p...

It is a genuine pleasure to follow the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) on this issue. As ...

The hon. Gentleman has a proud record. He condemns the Government for being slow to introduce the...

The hon. Gentleman is a supporter of pre-legislative scrutiny, but he does not believe it delays ...

One key point the supermarkets have put to me was that there were no appeal powers for them in th...

The Minister tells the House that we need to build in a proper appeals procedure, but hon. Member...

The retailers argued for a proper appeals process. The challenge I outlined was that the adjudica...

If, further down the line, serious breaches are identified by the adjudicator and the reserve pow...

If.

If. I am hopeful that if that situation arises the Government will bring forward their reserve po...

If there is an adjudication that affects the trade of an individual company, it will resort to la...

Absolutely. The House could come together, as it has on this measure, to find a way of short-circ...

Much comment has been made about the farming perspective. I appreciate and understand fully that ...

As has been said, it has taken a long time for the Bill to come before the House. It has recently...

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. As a Member representing a series of v...

I will be supporting this long awaited Bill, and I am in favour of the primary motivation behind ...

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for South Down (Ms Ritchie). Like her, I represent a ...

I am delighted that, at long last, we have reached the Second Reading of the Groceries Code Adjud...

If the adjudicator were given the power at the outset, would not companies be more likely to self...

As the hon. Member for North Antrim (Ian Paisley) pointed out, the stronger the adjudicator is fr...

Let me first draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. As a far...

Rather than referring to “criticisms”, perhaps, in this new atmosphere, we could refer to suggest...

I shall be talking about possible improvements. I think that there is a fair amount of cross-part...

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that those margins are seen not only in the direct relationship bet...

That is a valuable point. There have been a number of references to the dairy industry, and to sm...

I am very pleased to be able to contribute to this debate, and I commend the Government on introd...

It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Dr Whiteford), who speaks ...

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in the debate and, in particular, to follow the hon...

Given the clear balance in the speeches that have been made today across the House, would not it ...

My hon. Friend, as ever, makes an excellent contribution. The Government have a track record in t...

It is a great pleasure to speak in this debate and to follow the hon. Member for East Lothian (Fi...

I endorse what my hon. Friend is saying and I know that the growers and producers in Northumberla...

I would like to see fines incorporated into the Bill—I am sure that the Government will listen wh...

I know that my hon. Friend is a champion of the dairy industry. The Minister who will respond to ...

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. Much work was done by the previous farming and food Mini...

Does my hon. Friend acknowledge that farmers need to bear some of the responsibility? Many dairy ...

I welcome my hon. Friend’s intervention. I often say that farmers’ great strength is their indepe...

I seem to be falling into the rather pleasant habit, in both this Chamber and Westminster Hall, o...

I chair the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union parliamentary group. The group supports the Bil...

My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful speech. As he is talking about giving this House ...

This point coincides with a private Member’s Bill in my name on the appointment of the Governor o...

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonne...

It is a pleasant and, for me, unprecedented experience to speak at the Dispatch Box on a Bill tha...

Now that peace and unanimity is breaking out, will my hon. Friend return to the vexed issue of fi...

I will inevitably return to that point a little later, as it was raised by so many Members. Let m...

My hon. Friend says that the code would not apply retrospectively, relative to the date of the st...

I understand the point that my hon. Friend makes. If he would care to engage with Government lawy...

The point I was trying to make is that if we have to amend the legislation in due course by statu...

I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point, and that is clearly something we can discuss.

The ...

I would not want the hon. Gentleman to miss the opportunity to respond to the 20 Members who spok...

I was about to move on to that, and it is a great shame that the hon. Gentleman took up some of t...

rose—

No, I will not give way.

I want to talk very briefly about the voluntary code in the milk s...

rose—

I am sorry, but I really cannot give way at 9.58 pm.

Let us discuss what the effective sanc...