HC Deb 03 March 1947 vol 434 cc21-2
45. Mr. De la Bère

asked the Prime Minister whether he will find time for a discussion on the Motion standing in the name of the honourable Member for Evesham in connection with International Arrangements for Allocation of Food.

[That this House notes with grave concern the sacrifices and continued privations being inflicted upon the peoples of Great Britain in essential foodstuffs and fuel, through the allocations and distribution thereof arranged through the Combined Food Board, the European Coal Organisation and U.N.R.R.A.; is of the opinion that the sacrifices and reductions asked from this country are disproportionate, by reason of the fact that, in the figures and statistics on which the allocations are based, Great Britain is the only country producing actual facts and figures, whilst all other countries, through lack of efficient rationing and kindred organisation, only submit estimates which certainly do not minimise requirements; therefore, urges that His Majesty's Ministers and their representatives be instructed that whilst every sympathy he shown to the conditions and possible sufferings of other peoples, their paramount duty is to look after the necessities and well-being of the people of this country, and that therefore they should take steps to ensure that the present sacrifices be not continued, and that no further sacrifices be made until all other countries have proved by their organisation of rationing and distribution that the figures and statistics on which the Combined Food Board, the European Coal Organisation and U.N.R.R.A. fix their allocations are as accurate in all respects as those submitted by Great Britain.]

The Lord Privy Seal (Mr. Arthur Greenwood)

I have been asked to reply. I see no prospect of time being available for this purpose.

Mr. De la Bère

Will the Government endeavour to separate the true from the false, the real from the unreal and the worthy from the unworthy? Does the Lord Privy Seal appreciate that this country has been asked to make sacrifices of a disproportionate nature to a great number of international organisations; that our resources have been sadly strained and that this is quite beyond us? Cannot something be done about it to make other people bear their full share?

Mr. Greenwood

All of us draw the distinctions to which the hon. Member refers.