§ 60. Mr. LAMBERTasked the Minister of Agriculture what would have been the cost to the Exchequer if a guaranteed price of 55s. a quarter had been paid to British farmers, in excess of the sale price of wheat for the past three years?
§ Dr. ADDISONThe cost of guaranteeing a price of 55s. per quarter (504 lbs.) for that part of the British wheat crop estimated to have been sold off farms would have been £2,116,000 for 1927 and £2,481,000 for 1928. On the basis of the average prices ruling during the first six months of the current cereal year the cost in respect of the 1929 crop would have been £2,892,000. An extension of the guarantee to the total production would increase the cost by about one-third.
§ Mr. W. B. TAYLORWill the right hon. Gentleman state what has been the financial loss incurred by the British producers and peasantry during the same period in producing wheat?