HC Deb 18 May 1949 vol 465 cc432-3
58. Sir W. Smithers

asked the Minister of Food if, in view of the meat shortage and of the fact that rabbits are being exterminated and are not being made available for human consumption, he will remove price control on rabbits.

Dr. Summerskill

No, Sir. My right hon. Friend is not yet prepared to decontrol rabbits.

Sir W. Smithers

Is not the right hon. Lady aware that if a Minister were to decontrol the price of rabbits, many more thousands of rabbits would come in for human consumption, and will she change the name of her Ministry from the Ministry of Food to the "Ministry of Starvation"?

Mr. Turton

Is the right hon. Lady aware that at the present level of prices of feedingstuffs and overheads the production of domestic rabbits is uneconomic, and will she look into the question of the revision of the price control, especially of tame rabbits?

Dr. Summerskill

We have looked into this matter on a number of occasions but we cannot at the moment risk an increase in the price of rabbits.