§ Mr. CLYNES(by Private Notice) asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that there are 2,000 tons of best Dutch butter awaiting export to this country; that unless this butter be shipped to this country this week it will go elsewhere as the permits for export to this country expire on the 29th instant; whether it is a fact that the Treasury have refused to sanction the necessary expenditure for the purchase of this butter through the Food Ministry, and, if so, whether, in view of the present great scarcity of butter—a scarcity which will become accentuated—he will state the grounds upon which the Treasury refused to sanction the expenditure?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINTreasury sanction was given some time ago for the purchase of Dutch butter at a price not exceeding £283 a ton, c.i.f., which may be taken as approximately equivalent to the price of 2s. 6d. a pound, which is the selling rate to the public in the United Kingdom. The price now asked is understood to be £330 a ton, f.o.b., and the Treasury has refused to sanction purchase at this price.
In view of the condition of the foreign exchanges it is not in my opinion desirable that this country should make competitive bids for imported butter at prices which not only tend to cause further exchange difficulties but also a loss to the Exchequer when the butter is resold to the British consumer. It is essential that the available purchasing power of this country in foreign markets should be conserved to the utmost extent possible for the purchase of absolutely essential foodstuffs and raw materials.