§ 33. Mr. Summersasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport whether he is satisfied that the pre-war practice of the railway companies in ordering supplies sold at a uniform delivered price, from sources which involve the longest carriage, has been abandoned?
§ Colonel LlewellinI am informed that this is not and has never been the practice of the railway companies.
§ Mr. SummersIs the Parliamentary Secretary aware that it is common knowledge in trade circles that this was the case before the war? Can he say that this practice no longer prevails?
§ Colonel LlewellinI am told that the practice was to buy goods at the lowest tendered price. Obviously, in peacetime that was the best practice, but I appreciate that the practice to which my hon. Friend refers ought to have been stopped.