52. Mr. De la Bèreasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will take steps to ensure that the price of home-grown wheat is made approximate to the price paid for imported wheat, having special regard to the increased turnover in the British acreage which would result, and the corresponding reduction that would take place in external dollar payments for wheat.
§ Mr. T. WilliamsNo, Sir. I do not think that tying the price of home-grown to that of imported wheat would be in the interests of British agriculture or serve the purposes suggested by the hon. Member
Mr. De la BèreCan the right hon. Gentleman tell the House why it is that the Government pay to the Argentine £34 a ton for wheat as compared with £18 for the English? Surely, there is something wrong there?
§ Mr. WilliamsPerhaps the hon. Member will be interested to learn that, overall, we pay less for imported wheat than we are paying for our home-grown wheat.