§ 55. Captain PETER MACDONALDasked the Minister of Agriculture, for what reasons the Sugar Commission has decided that, in respect of the 1937 contract, the British Sugar Corporation shall confine the defraying of railway freight charges in excess of 7s. per ton to sugar beet for delivery to the Kidderminster and Alscott factories; whether he is aware that sugar beet from the Isle of Wight is sent to the Selby factory, and will not, therefore, qualify for this concession; and whether, in view of the fact 556 that the transport costs from farm to factory of the Isle of Wight growers amount to 12s. 1d. per ton, he can ensure that the subsidy scheme shall be equitably distributed so far as the Isle of Wight growers are concerned?
§ Mr. W. S. MORRISONThe Sugar Commission inform me that they are at present considering the question of applying to the special circumstances of Isle of Wight sugar beet growers the rail freight concession to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers, and I will communicate with him as soon as any decision is reached on this matter.
§ Mr. T. WILLIAMSWill the Minister say why he thinks that either landowners or farmers in the Isle of Wight should be subsidised by taxpayers in other parts of the country?
§ Mr. MORRISONIt is not a question of subsidising landowners in the Isle of Wight; it is a question of equalising the burden which falls upon growers of sugar beet in various parts of the country.
§ Mr. WILLIAMSCan the right hon. Gentleman assure us that, if all these concessions are made to farmers and landowners in the Isle of Wight, rents will not be increased?
§ Captain HEILGERSWill my right hon. Friend bear in mind that any further concession would be unpopular among the pioneer growers in East Anglia?