§ 92. Mr. OUTHWAITEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Shipping whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that a national system of bread rationing is not at present in operation in France, and that where rationing has been adopted, as in Paris, the ration advised is 4½ lb. a week, as corn- pared with the British ration of 3½ lb.; and whether these facts were taken into consideration when on a recent occasion British ships sent to the Argentine to bring margarine to this country were diverted to take wheat to France?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of SHIPPING (Sir Leo Chiozza Money)I do not think that any comparison of the quantities allowed in the compulsory Paris rationing scheme with the quantities indicated in the voluntary British scheme for a single class of persons is of such value without consideration both of the quantities allowed for other classes and of the consumption of alternative foodstuffs in both countries. Allocations of tonnage as between the two countries are made after very careful consideration of their respective necessities. It is not the case that a ship has been sent to the Argentine to bring margarine and then diverted to take wheat to France.