§ 28. Mr. Rentonasked the Minister of Food how many tons of cereals are at present lying in the holds of ships in British ports owing to there being no storage space available; and what has been the cost this year, up to the latest date for which figures are available, of storing cereals on board ships lying in port.
§ Mr. StracheyThree ships were hired because they would otherwise have been lying idle and it was cheaper to use them than to store on land. The cost for 17,398 tons, down to 3rd November, was £4,291.
§ Mr. RentonIs it not a fact that the Ministry of Food stores all over the country have been so full of corn in recent months that the Minister has been driven to use these ships for storage, and would it not be better to free the distribution of cereals to a greater extent, thereby enabling food producers to have more food sooner?
§ Mr. StracheyI am glad to say our stocks of cereals are large and that we have been able to make the increases in animal feedingstuffs rations which my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture announced the other day.
§ Colonel Gomme-DuncanAs we understand that there has been considerable shipping difficulty in getting groundnuts away from West Africa, could not these ships have been used for that purpose? The right hon. Gentleman said they were empty and could not be used.
§ Mr. StracheyThe hon. and gallant Gentleman misunderstood. There is no shipping difficulty in West Africa, although there has been a difficulty in rail transport. Railways are not ships.