HC Deb 17 December 1946 vol 431 cc1774-7
Mr. Eden

(by Private Notice) asked the Minister of Food whether he has any statement to make on the allocation of United States wheat and flour to the United Kingdom.

The Minister of Food (Mr. Strachey)

As I warned the House on 6th December, recent difficulties, especially in North American transport, have gravely affected the supply of wheat for this country. The United States Government has now given us permission to buy and export 68,000 tons of wheat, 36,000 tons of wheat flour and a small amount of coarse grains between now and 31st January. They have also promised us rail priority in the movement across the United States of some additional quantities of Canadian wheat Together with our existing supplies these quantities should—if there are no further delays in transport—just suffice to avert the very grave emergency which we foresaw for the end of January. I should like to add that although these supplies are by no means so large as those which we wished to purchase in the United States in January, at the same time they represent a major effort on the part of the United States Government to meet us, in face of the very real difficulties which the United States Government faces today.

Mr. Eden

In expressing our gratification at the effort which the United States Government have made, may I ask the right hon. Gentleman a question about the Canadian wheat, to which he also referred in his answer? Can he tell us why it is, according to a written answer he gave to this House last week, that Canadian wheat imports to this country are down 400,000 tons in the four months July to October, as compared with the four months March to June? That is to say, they are down since the harvest as compared with before the harvest, despite the fact that the harvest has been a good one. Can he tell us why that is so?

Mr. Strachey

Yes, that is indeed the main cause of our present short-term difficulty. The Canadian export of wheat all through this autumn was very much lower than we, and I am sure the Canadian Government, would have wished. That was not caused by any absence of wheat, but by their difficulties in moving that wheat across the Great Lakes. They were tied up by a series of strikes, by rail movements which were tied up by various difficulties of available cars, and also by rail movements to the Pacific coast. It is precisely that inability on the part of the Canadian Government to deliver wheat during this autumn in sufficient quantities to the ports which has been our main difficulty.

Mr. Grimston

Is not one of the reasons why there is a shortage of box cars which has led to these difficulties due to the fact that such a high proportion of wheat was shipped by the Pacific coast? Why was that?

Mr. Strachey

No, Sir. We would have preferred as high a proportion as possible to be shipped from the Atlantic coast. It was only when it became apparent that the Canadian authorities were not moving sufficient quantities from the lakehead down to the Atlantic coast that we had to use the Pacific coast to the maximum degree. That was not something which we or the Canadian authorities wished to do.

Mr. Eden

Can the Minister say at what stage His Majesty's Government become responsible for the transportation of this Canadian wheat? Could he assure us that the question of price does not enter into this matter?

Mr. Strachey

The answer to the first part of the question is, "at the port." After its movement within Canada to the Atlantic or Pacific port, in either case we become responsible for it when it gets on the ship. In regard to the second part of the right hon. Gentleman's question, does he mean so far as we are concerned?

Mr. Eden

What I have in mind is that, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, our agreement with the Canadian Government is at a price lower than world prices. I understand that a certain amount of Canadian wheat is going to other countries at higher prices than that in our agreement. I would like to be sure that the Minister does not feel it is a question of price why our deliveries are not larger.

Mr. Strachey

The amount of wheat which has come off the farms is amply sufficient to fulfil the Canadian contract to us. I do not, at first sight, see why the price at which the wheat is sold affects the movement across Canada, which is arranged by the Canadian Wheat Board in conjunction with the Canadian railways and other Canadian authorities.

Mr. Kirkwood

Is it not self evident that the trouble here is transport—shipping? Has that not demonstrated to the Government how essential it is that we should nationalise shipping?

Mr. Spence

What steps have been taken to deal with this problem of transportation, which is not a new one? Unless this problem of transport is dealt with, we shall not get the wheat to meet our needs.

Mr. Strachey

That is essentially a question which can only be answered by the Canadian authorities, not by me. I cannot run the transport system of Canada— [Interruption.]—nor do I run the transport system of this country—but as the House may well imagine, we have not failed to represent to the Canadian authorities the very great importance of the smooth movement of wheat to us.

Mr. Churchill

The right hon. Gentleman has not answered the question put to him by my right hon. Friend the Member for Warwick and Leamington (Mr. Eden).

Mr. Kirkwood

He never answered mine.

Mr. Gallacher

The right hon. Gentle man speaks for Wall Street, any way

Mr. Churchill

What I wanted to ask was whether the question of the price which we pay for Canadian wheat has in any way diminished the flow of that wheat to this country?

Mr. Strachey

If I have not given an absolutely clear-cut answer, it is because it must be a matter of opinion. No one can answer that question authoritatively. For my part, I cannot see why the price of 1 dollar, 55, which is being paid for that wheat, should in any way prevent its movement. It might have been said that at that price, farmers might not deliver a sufficient quantity from their farms, but that they have done—quite a sufficient quantity. At first sight I do not see why it should affect the movement.

Mr. Douglas Jay

Was it not precisely because the Government foresaw these transport difficulties before last July, that they decided to introduce bread rationing?

Several Hon. Members rose

—

Mr. Speaker

We are getting off the original question now.