§ 37. Mr. MACQUISTENasked the Minister of Agriculture the total amount spent on newspaper advertisements of milk by the Milk Marketing Boards; if such advertisements are in addition to the drink more milk campaign of his Department; and what is the total cost?
§ Sir G. BOWYERUnder Section 11 of the Milk Act, 1934, half of the expenditure incurred by Milk Marketing Boards for a period of two years in carrying out approved arrangements for increasing the demand for milk, including the Milk-in-Schools Scheme, is met by grants from the Exchequer. Parliament provided £1 million for this purpose. My right hon. Friend has consulted with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland as to milk publicity activities undertaken by the Scottish Boards, and the general position is as follows. General publicity schemes which include press advertising have been inaugurated by the Scottish Milk Marketing Board, the Aberdeen and District Milk Marketing Board and the Milk Marketing Board for England and Wales, and particulars of these schemes were laid before Parliament on the 4th March, 1935, the 17th June, 1935, and the 20th June, 1935, respectively. Copies of these documents are being sent to my hon. Friend, from which he will see that the schemes as a whole are estimated to cost £17,000, £1,600 and £60,000 respectively, of which expenditure half will be met by Exchequer grants. It is estimated that of these sums £10,500, £800 and £42,000, respectively, will be spent on press advertising.
§ Mr. MACQUISTENAre all these advertisements in the press for the purpose of endeavouring to get a friendly press, and is it not perfectly futile to advertise milk, which we drink all the year round and is not like stout, an acquired taste? The poor farmers have to pay the cost of all this nonsense.
§ Mr. SPEAKERSir Cooper Rawson.