3. Colonel NEWMANasked the President of the Board of Trade whether any means are taken to allocate fairly among different purveyors of butchers' meat what home-killed beef and mutton is available; and is he aware that in the meat departments of leading stores of the West End of London no fresh meat is available, and customers have for some time past been forced to accept frozen meat of inferior quality, while in Ireland fresh meat can be obtained without limit?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY OF FOOD (Sir W. Mitchell-Thomson)I have been asked to reply. The answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. The system under which retailers receive their allocation of home-killed meat is based on the number of customers registered with them in October, 1919. The Food Controller is not aware of any case in which no fresh meat was available for a retailer, as there has been no difficulty for some time past in supplying London retailers with the amount of home-killed meat to which they are entitled. Ample supplies of frozen meat of excellent quality are available, and the Food Controller cannot agree that there is any compulsion to accept inferior frozen meat. There is no restriction on the amount of home-killed meat which can be obtained by individual consumers in Ireland, as the Food Controller's system of distribution has never been in operation in that country.