HC Deb 08 December 1943 vol 395 cc968-70
47. Mr. Lees-Jones

asked the Minister of Food his reasons for limiting the sale of turkeys from Eire to those dealers in this country who sold 25 turkeys in the 1938 and 1939 seasons in Birmingham, Glasgow and London and to those who sold 50 such turkeys in the same seasons in Manchester; and the reason for the differentiation in quantities in these named areas?

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food (Mr. Mabane)

The decisions to which my hon. Friend refers were based on recommendations of local Organising Committees and reflect local conditions. Notwithstanding the higher minimum qualification in Manchester the ratio of retailers qualifying to population is considerably higher than in the other three cities mentioned in the Question.

Mr. Rhys Davies

When the hon. Gentleman says that certain food authorities have sent recommendations to him, has he received any from those districts where there are no turkeys?

Mr. Mabane

That is another question.

Mr. Ralph Etherton

Does the answer mean that the proportion allowed to Manchester will be less than for the three cities named?

Mr. Mabane

No, Sir.

49. Mr. Riley

asked the Minister of Food which districts in the West Riding will receive an allocation under his scheme for the distribution of turkeys and poultry during December?

Mr. Mabane

All retailers, throughout the West Riding, who before the war purchased imported supplies from wholesalers who are now members of the Association of Wholesale Distributors of Imported Poultry and Rabbits Limited, should receive an appropriate share of Eire and other imported supplies. There are, of course, no restrictions on purchases from producers in Great Britain.

Mr. Rhys Davies

In view of the fact that the hon. Gentleman's Department has received representations from outside those very large cities to which turkeys are going at Christmas, has he reconsidered the position at all?

Mr. Mabane

I think my hon. Friend should keep this matter in perspective. The smallest proportion of the supplies, those from Northern Ireland, is going to certain areas, and the rest of the country can purchase freely within the terms laid down Eire and other imported supplies and home-produced supplies.

Mr. Magnay

Is there not far too much time spent upon these turkeys? Is it not far more important to consider whether Turkey is coming into the war or not?

55. Mr. Foster

asked the Minister of Food whether he has any statement to make respecting the supply of poultry from Northern Ireland to those areas not included in the five areas mentioned in the recent Press notice; and what arrangements he has made for a fair and proper distribution there?

Mr. Mabane

I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave on 1st December to the hon. Members for Dudley (Mr. C. Lloyd) and Stretford (Mr. Etherton). It is proposed to examine early in the New Year the practicability of securing a still wider distribution.

Mr. Foster

Does not the hon. Gentleman think it would be better to make a full statement on this subject in the House in order to give satisfaction to those people who are raising it, instead of dealing with it by way of question and answer?

Mr. Mabane

I thought I had made statements so often that the House was almost nauseated with them.

63. Mr. Evelyn Walkden

asked the Minister of Food what quota basis or title the retailers of turkeys who largely sell to working-class consumers will receive in London or Yorkshire where such retailers dealt mostly in birds imported from foreign sources; and whether, to ensure equity, he will consider allowing their gross proven 1938 purchases from wholesalers to rank for assessment in the present distribution scheme?

Mr. Mabane

Retailers of imported turkeys in Great Britain who obtained their supplies in 1938 from an importer-wholesaler who is now a member of the distributing company will this year receive a share of the available imported supplies based on the total value of their purchases of imported poultry from that importer-wholesaler in the datum year. Moreover those retailers whose premises are situated in the five areas to which Northern Ireland turkeys are being directed are, if their sales of home-produced and Northern Ireland turkeys in 1938 or 1939 exceeded the appropriate minimum, entitled also to a share of the Northern Ireland supplies.

Mr. Walkden

Could the Ministry not have arranged to sink all these turkeys in the Irish Channel, and not bring them over at all?

Mr. G. Griffiths

And the whisky with it?