§ 56. Commander Nobleasked the Minister of Food whether he will now say to what use he will put the £500,000 profit made by his Department on the sale in this country of a part of the gift of apples from British Columbia.
§ Mr. WebbI have given careful consideration to the many suggestions made for using the profit which has resulted from this most generous and acceptable gift. In doing so I have held in mind that it was clearly the wish of the donors of these apples that any ensuing benefit should go to the citizens of the United Kingdom. That being so, I am sure they would not expect—and, indeed, might resent—any proposal to return the profit to Canada in any form.
I have therefore decided that the best and simplest way of sharing this gift among the greatest number of the people for whom it was intended will be to retain it to the credit of my Department's Trading Account to be used as a contribution to our food subsidies. By this means, this half million pounds will be a material factor in keeping food prices down and this will effectively meet the desire of the donors to assist the people of the United Kingdom.
§ Commander NobleIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that his answer really means that he is using this profit from the sale of a gift, to offset the many other trading losses of his Department?
§ Captain CrookshankDoes the right hon. Gentleman mean that the people who generously made this gift thought that they were subscribing towards reducing our food subsidies? Does not he think that he can find some more imaginative use for this money?
§ Mrs. Jean MannDoes my right hon. Friend regard the £460 million paid out to keep food prices down, as a trading loss?
§ Mr. MarloweWhen the right hon. Gentleman says that he is satisfied that the Canadians would not wish any of this money to go back to Canada—for example, to the Winnipeg Relief Fund—does he mean that he has consulted anybody in Canada to see whether they share that view?
§ Mr. MarloweWith Canada?
| Commodity | Losses in year to 31st March, 1946 | Losses in year to 31st March, 1947 | Losses in year to 31st March, 1948 | Losses in year to 31st March, 1949 |
| £m. | £m. | £m. | £m. | |
| Bacon | 3.0 | 7.2 | 14.0 | 17.0 |
| Flour and bread | 50.40 | 49.0 | 78.9 | 98.8 |
| Dried fruits | 3.3 | 3.5 | 0.9 | — |
| Eggs and egg products | 31.5 | 30.9 | 28.7 | 28.7 |
| Oat products | 2.7 | 2.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Meat | 32.4 | 36.7 | 56.9 | 58.0 |
| Milk | 24.4 | 38.4 | 35.5 | 44.3 |
| Butter | 8.7 | 14.6 | 25.8 | 40.0 |
| Cheese | 9.6 | 12.9 | 22.7 | 20.0 |
| Condensed milk | 2.1 | 3.3 | — | — |
| Milk powder | 1.4 | 1.6 | — | — |
| Margarine (domestic) | 0.1 | 1.7 | 6.9 | 13.3 |
| Cooking fat (domestic) | 1.2 | — | 0.2 | 7.0 |
| Other edible oils and fats | 1.6 | 1.3 | — | — |
| Potatoes and carrots | 8.3 | 18.7 | 10.4 | 11.6 |
| Sugar (domestic) | 19.6 | 29.6 | 31.7 | 25.1 |
| Tea | 2.9 | 4.8 | 9.2 | 18.5 |
| Canned fish | — | 0.4 | — | — |
| Fish | — | — | 1.2 | 0.5 |
| Starch | — | — | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Manufactured foods | — | — | 0.1 | — |
| 203.2 | 257.1 | 323.3 | 383.3 |