24 FEBRUARY 1973, Page 4

Consumer affairs

I hear on what is usually described as most excellent authority that Sir Geoffrey Howe, Mr Peter Walker's fellow Cabinet minister at the Department of Trade and Industry, is taking his role as the Lord or Overlord Protector of the consumer very seriously indeed, so much so that in practically every other ministry he has arranged to have one junior minister or another report to him directly on any matters which might fall within the very broad field of consumers' interests.

Peggy Fenner is one such, at the Ministry of Agriculture. They occasionally meet to discuss matters. When they do, Peter Walker says "Now I understand what •is meant by consumer affairs."