§ 27. Mr. RAMSDENasked the First Lord of the Admiralty the percentage value of all foodstuffs and of all other stores and materials of any kind purchased by his Department during the year 1926 and which were of foreign origin?
§ Lieut.-Colonel HEADLAMMy hon. Friend may rest assured that most of the foodstuffs and stores, etc., purchased from foreign countries are unobtainable in the British Empire. To give an exact percentage of stores so purchased would involve a greater amount of labour than would probably be considered justified by the circumstances. But I may say that the percentage value oz foreign foodstuffs bought in 1926 was between 1 per cent. and 2 per cent., whilst the corresponding percentage for all other stores and materials would be considerably less than 1 per cent. This latter figure excludes oil fuel (which must inevitably be largely of foreign production), and also excludes special purchases of foreign coal which were necessitated by the national coal stoppage.