§ 53. Mr. Piratinasked the Minister of Food whether the sums paid to food, fruit and vegetable distributors is included under the heading of subsidies; and how much annually is the total sum thus paid out.
§ Dr. SummerskillIf the hon. Member consults the latest published Ministry of Food Trading Accounts he will find a figure of £12,684,640 for the commission and expenses of agents and distributors. After sale by my Department margins are earned by distributors further down the chain of distribution but are charged in the price to the consumer and do not appear in the accounts. In the case of subsidised commodities, distributive margins could be said to form one element of the subsidy bill but the amounts could not be evaluated with precision, and in any case it would be misleading to earmark any particular share of these outgoings to the subsidies.
§ Mr. PiratinWhile that answer requires some further study by myself, and by all of us I imagine, may I ask the Minister what she intends to do about stopping these "pensions," as they are referred to in "Labour Believes in Britain"? What steps will she take to stop them immediately?
§ Dr. SummerskillThe hon. Gentleman no doubt knows that "Labour Believes in Britain" covers our next programme.