§ Sir Waldron SmithersWith your permission, Sir, and the permission of the House, I desire to make a short statement. On 25th November I asked a Supplementary Question of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food. I said:
Will the Minister take steps to dissipate the idea, which is widely held, that Mr. Calder and Mr. Short are a law unto themselves and control the ham and bacon business of the country for the benefit of the big ham and bacon factories?"—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 25th November, 1942; col. 72, Vol. 385.]That supplementary was designed to give the Parliamentary Secretary an opportunity, in the national interest, of dissipating the idea and removing doubts, thus maintaining and encouraging an immense pig production in the country. The Parliamentary Secretary has told me that this Supplementary Question was cast in such a form that the two gentlemen concerned felt that some doubt had been cast on their integrity. He has told me that Mr. Short left the Ministry of Food in November, 1941, and that Dr. Calder, after being employed on agricultural research, was an officer of the Pig Marketing Board from 1933 to 1940, when he was seconded to the Ministry of Food, and that he has no commercial interests in any bacon factory. My question is thus answered, and I hope it will have the desired effect; but I wish to express my sincere regret that any words of mine in a Supplementary Question should have created a wrong impression.