15. Mr. De la Bé reasked the Minister of Food whether, in connection with the gift of free apples from Canada, he will ensure that the public are made aware of the facts; and why, since the apples are a free gift, the public are being made to pay for them.
§ Mr. StracheyI would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Ayr Burghs (Sir T. Moore) on 24th October.
Mr. De la Bé reIs it not a fact that a million bushels of Canadian apples have been given to this country, and is it not also a fact that the Minister has been selling these apples? We have got apples of our own which cannot be sold, we have had apples given to us, and yet nobody seems to know about it. Why is it a secret?
§ Mr. StracheyThere is no secret in this matter as far as I know, and I have already replied to the Question. No Canadian apples have been given to us, but Canadian apples have been sold to us at half-price, for which we are very grateful, and we are selling them in the ordinary way. It would be very unfair to English growers if we charged any other price.
§ Mr. StracheyWe are not selling them at half-price, and I have already given the reason why we should not do so.
§ 19. Major Legge-Bourkeasked the Minister of Food if he is aware that salesmen in Wigan are refusing to accept any consignments of English apples owing to his Department having flooded that area with Nova Scotian apples; and what steps he is taking to safeguard the growers of this year's bumper crop of apples.
§ Mr. StracheyThe only allocation of Nova Scotian apples which has so far been distributed in Wigan this season was sufficient to provide half a pound per head of the population. I cannot agree that this is a flood. It could have had little effect on the sale of good quality English apples, the prices of which in Lancashire have been high. I am quite satisfied that the apples we are importing 10 will not prevent the marketing of well-graded home-grown apples at satisfactory prices.
§ Major Legge-BourkeIs the Minister aware that I have here two letters from apple salesmen in Wigan showing that his Ministry have flooded that market with Nova Scotian apples, and that this means that the growers of apples in Cambridge-shire have been unable to find a market? Will he do something about it?
§ Mr. StracheyThe price of Cox's in Lancashire has been 2d. or 3d. above the controlled price, which came into force yesterday.
§ Mr. Vernon BartlettWill the Minister assure the House that, when decisions like this are made, he will consult beforehand with his right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture?
§ Mr. StracheyYes, Sir; I am always in consultation with my right hon. Friend on these matters.
§ Major Legge-BourkeMay I ask the Minister what has been the expense of importing these apples?
§ Mr. Strachey1,500,000 dollars.
§ Major Legge-BourkeIs it not scandalous?
§ Mr. StracheyI really cannot allow this to go uncorrected. This was an arrangement pressed on us very strongly by the Canadian Government. It was a generous arrangement on their part, and I was very glad that we were able to accede to it.