§ 20. Sir W. Smithersasked the Minister of Food how many carcases of meat were recently imported from Australia to Southampton; and how many were resold to France at a profit of about £1 a carcase.
§ Mr. WebbMy Department have not recently imported Australian meat via Southampton, neither have they sold any to France. Perhaps the hon. Member can let me know what grounds he may have for his belief that there have been such transactions.
§ 23. Sir H. Williamsasked the Minister of Food, having regard to the fact that his estimated supplies of meat for the present year per head of the population are 80 per cent. of the pre-war supply, and the ration is less than one-third of the pre-war average consumption, what is happening to the balance of the supply.
§ Mr. WebbThe hon. Member provides the answer in his own Question, when he refers to estimated supplies of meat for the present year. It would be misleading to compare yearly figures with the ration level at any particular period—such as the present difficult time. Meat supplies are seasonal; for example, we are now getting very little of the home-killed meat which made up a much larger ration last autumn and will, I hope, do so again this year.
§ Sir H. WilliamsIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that those figures are calculations based on the unchallenged statements made by himself and his right hon. Friend in the recent debate?
§ Sir H. WilliamsIs there any arithmetical error? If so, what?
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIs it not possible that the solution may lie in the fact that a lot of people who now eat meat never had it before the war?
§ Sir H. WilliamsA lot of people have been born since then.
§ Wing Commander BullusIs it true that we are now to lose the Webb sausage?
§ 27. Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-Davenportasked the Minister of Food if he has any information as to the average age of the animals used for the meat for which his Department is paying £177 per ton in France; and to what extent he has had complaints from meat traders about its quality.
§ Mr. WebbI cannot say what was the average age of these animals, none of which went to meat traders in the domestic trade. I can say, however, that several manufacturers have commented favourably upon the quality of the meat.
§ Lieut.-Colonel Bromley-DavenportI could not hear the earlier part of the right hon. Gentleman's answer. Did he say that this meat went to butchers, or did not go?
§ Mr. Hugh FraserWill the right hon. Gentleman agree that it is fantastic to pay £177 per ton for meat 25 per cent. of which consisted of old bulls just destroyed in France?
§ Mr. WebbIf we are to have irrelevant facts, I might give an equally irrelevant fact, namely, that the Argentine offered to sell meat to Brazil at £76 per ton.
§ 37. Mr. Turtonasked the Minister of Food what was the average price per ton of imports of beef and veal, other than corned, sold on the ration during the year 1950; and what was the average price per ton of imports of canned beef and veal and other descriptions of beef and veal not sold as rationed meat during the year 1950.
§ Mr. WebbAs the reply contains a number of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. TurtonWill the Minister reconsider his policy of encouraging the importation of luxury meat, which housewives cannot afford, and his obstinacy over the importation of rationed meat, which they want so badly?
§ Mr. WebbThat is a most interesting supplementary question. If it is now the considered policy of the Opposition to restrict private trade in bringing in supplements to our food rations, I would like to have more details.
§ Mr. TurtonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the argument of the majority of hon. Members of the House is that the trade should be returned to private enterprise?
§ Mr. SpeakerAll the Question asked was about the average price and not about the meat trade generally.
Following is the information:The average landed costs, excluding duty, for the year ended 31st December, 1950, were, as shown by the Trade and Navigation returns:
Beef £ per ton Veal £ per ton Bone-in 97.31 59.71 Boneless 102.58 84.70 Other descriptions, including canned meats and edible offal 173.03 220.84
Bone-in beef and veal are sold mainly on the ration and boneless meat mainly for manufacturing purposes. Of the other descriptions of beef and veal only canned corned meat is sold on the ration.
§ 43. Mr. Bossomasked the Minister of Food how much he has earned as real profit from the British tinned meat sent to Canada, the United States of America and the Argentine.
§ Mr. WebbMy Department does not profit from these sales as they are made by private traders, but dollar earnings from Canada and the United States of America during the past year were about 250,000 dollars. I repeat, once again, that there are no sales to the Argentine.
§ Mr. BossomIf, as the Minister has admitted, we are so short of meat, does he not think that it is the acme of bad judgment to let any meat go out of the country at present in this way?
§ Mr. WebbThat really means depriving a very important exporting section of private traders of what they regard as 874 an important element in keeping in contact with their overseas markets. On this side of the House we do not want to prevent private enterprise from having legitimate opportunities of doing good business.
§ Mr. BossomWill the Minister say how far he intends to carry out this policy? Does he intend to sell all the meat so that we have none?
§ 44. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Food if, having regard to the 10 per cent. increase in world meat supplies, he is satisfied that the United Kingdom is obtaining at least its pre-war proportion of exportable surpluses.
§ Mr. WebbYes, Sir. According to the latest estimates published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation the United Kingdom received 74 per cent. of the world's exports of meat in 1950, the same percentage as before the war. The hon. Member will bear in mind that the population of the world has increased as well as its supply of food.
§ Mr. HurdI take it that the answer is "Yes"—that the Minister is satisfied that we are getting our full proportion.
§ Mr. WebbWe are getting the same proportion as before the war, but in view of the increase in our own population we should like to have a larger proportion.