62. Mr. De la Béreasked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will give an explanation of the rise in price of dry pulp from the sugar-beet factories, from £7 per ton to £14 per ton, with special regard to the fact that the basic price paid to the sugar-beet growers was only £5 10s. per ton; and what steps he proposes to take to effect an equitable adjustment to all concerned.
Mr. T. WilliamsThe increase in price of dried sugar-beet pulp was part of the general increase in the level of animal feedingstuffs prices which I announced in the statement I made in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Mr. G. Jeger) on 24th January. The price of dried pulp affects sugar-beet growers only as feeders of livestock, and the increased prices of this and other feedingstuffs were taken into account in arriving at the prices of livestock products agreed last February; there are, therefore, no grounds for any adjustment so far as the present year is concerned.
Mr. De la BéreIs the Minister aware that this Question was originally put down to the Minister of Food, and will he, with the Minister of Food, endeavour to separate the real from the unreal and the worthy from the sham and get down to reality?