§ 53. Mr. Rankinasked the Minister of Agriculture how the price of 6s. per lb. for home-grown wool has been arrived at.
Mr. T. WilliamsI would refer my hon. Friend to the recently published White Paper (Cmd 8239) for an exposition of the factors which governed the fixing at the recent Price Review of the prices for wool and other commodities covered by Part 1 of the Agriculture Act, 1947.
§ Mr. RankinIs it a fact that the farmers had accepted a price of 2s. 6d. per lb. for home-grown wool and that when, at the public auction sales, wool began to fetch 9s. and 10s. per lb. on the world markets the farmers at home were given 6s. to keep them quiet?
Mr. WilliamsNo, Sir, I disagree with the last point of my hon. Friend. The guaranteed price was arranged at the February Review and it was agreed that any surplus secured from the auctions of the wool would be put on one side in a suspense account, but would belong to the actual producers of that wool, even though they could not have it distributed for four or five years.