§ 25. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Food if he is aware that numbers of slaughtermen in Aberdeen have been deprived of a livelihood by the wartime practice of exporting live cattle instead of dead meat; and will he revert to the traditional practice by allowing cattle for export to be slaughtered there.
§ Mr. StracheySome cattle are slaughtered in Aberdeen and the meat sent to England, but some live cattle also are sent to other parts of Great Britain at times when the total number of cattle for slaughter in the country as a whole is low. This is done to provide a reasonable minimum standard of work for slaughtermen who are needed in the industry in other areas. Before the war large numbers of cattle were also sent alive and I see no reason for changing the present practice.
§ Mr. HughesIs the Minister aware that more meat can be carried dead than alive, that cattle lose weight in transit, and for those additional reasons would it not be desirable and economic that the old system should be restored? Will the Minister take steps to do that?
§ Mr. StracheyWe do not consider that there is a lower proportion of slaughtering in Aberdeen than before the war although the total is lower, but if my hon. and learned Friend will let me have any particular case he has in mind where there has been uneconomic transport of live cattle, I will pay attention to it.
§ Mr. HughesIs the Minister aware that a considerable number of slaughtermen are out of employment, and that they were in continuous employment in Aberdeen in pre-war years?
§ Mr. Somerville HastingsWill my right hon. Friend also remember that a certain amount of cruelty is almost inevitable in transporting live cattle?
§ Mr. StracheyWe realise the difficulties, but some transport of live cattle has always taken place and I doubt whether it could be abolished. As regards the other supplementary question, fewer than 10 slaughtermen are unemployed.