§ 28. Mr. John Hyndasked the Minister of Food why he refuses to permit the import of two consignments of 10,000 tons of sugar and 2,400 tons of Argentine prime pork, now waiting at Hamburg for export to this country on a sterling basis, in return for which, textiles and other British goods are being sought.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeBecause of exchange considerations and of price, which in the case of the sugar is excessive.
§ Mr. HyndIs the Minister not aware that there are large consignments of British goods waiting to be exchanged for these goods, and that these are sterling sales? Is he aware that the sugar content of this consignment alone represents ½lb. sugar per head of our people, and will he not try to facilitate the arrival of this consignment in this country?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeThe difficulty is that any transaction of this character has to be made through E.P.U. and it may be that 80 per cent. of the payment will have to be in gold. As far as my information goes, both the pork and the sugar were originally bought for United States dollars with a low rate of sterling. It is not in the country's interest, particularly at this time, to allow sterling to be sold at a discount in the free market.