HC Deb 31 March 1947 vol 435 cc1643-4
23. Mrs. Jean Mann

asked the Minister of Food why officers of his Department are calling at houses in Greenend, Coatbridge, asking to see contents of cupboards and weighing jam found therein; and under what authority they are doing this.

Mr. Strachey

None of my officers are so engaged. I presume my hon. Friend is referring to the National Food Survey investigations carried out on my Department's behalf by the London Press Exchange. These investigators are not authorised to demand information. All the information collected is obtained voluntarily, and larder stocks can only be weighed with the permission of the housewife.

Sir Waldron Smithers

Is this not the thin end of the wedge; and is it not true that the Englishman's home is rapidly becoming no longer his castle?