§ 59. Major-General Sir Alfred Knoxasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can give a list of the different articles of food subsidised by the Government showing the present prices and what that price would be if there were no subsidy; and the total cost to the Exchequer in the year of the subsidies to each article.
§ The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Assheton)As the answer 1277 contains a number of figures I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
Dr. Russell ThomasWould my right hon. Friend consider extending the subsidy to a few essential household articles
| Present Price. | Unsubsidised Price. | Cost of Subsidy in £ million. | |||||
| s. | d. | s. | d. | ||||
| Bread | … | … | 9 per 4 lbs. | 1 | 2 | 60.4 | |
| Flour | … | … | 1 | 23/4 per 6 lbs. | 1 | 9¼ | |
| Oatmeal | … | … | 31/2 per lb. | 5 | |||
| Meat (home killed) | … | … | 1 | 13/4 per lb. | 1 | 5 | 23.1 |
| Meat (imported) | … | … | 83/4 per lb. | 9¼ | |||
| Potatoes | … | … | 63/4 per 7 lbs. | 10¼ | 28.6 | ||
| Eggs | … | … | 2 | 0 per doz. (large) | 3 | 9½ | 11.3 |
| Eggs | … | … | 1 | 9 per doz. (small) | 3 | 6½ | |
| Sugar (domestic) | … | … | 4 per lb. | 5½ | 10.5 | ||
| Milk | … | … | 9 per quart | 9½ | 10.5 | ||
| Cheese | … | … | 1 | 1 per lb. | 1 | 3¼ | 3.7 |
| Bacon | … | … | 1 | 101/2 per lb. | 1 | 11 | 1.6 |
| 149.7 | |||||||
| Other subsidies | … | … | 56.1 | ||||
| Total | … | … | 205.8 |
§ The item "Other Subsidies" in this list includes small subsidies on imported egg products, rice, canned fish, butter, and milk products. It also includes larger amounts for fertilizers and for animal feeding-stuffs, and an estimate of the operating loss incurred by the Ministry of War Transport in the carriage of imports of food to the United Kingdom. In addition it includes a sum of £20,000,000 which represents the subsidies needed to supply the cheap and free milk available under the National Milk Scheme and Milk in Schools Scheme, and to provide vitamins for children and nursing mothers.