§ 29. Mr. Jayasked the Minister of Food if his attention has been called to the rise in the price of coffee which has followed the return of the trade to private hands; and what steps he proposes to protect the consumer.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeThe rise in coffee prices reflects the rise in world prices. Increases of a comparable order would have been required even if control had continued.
§ Mr. JayIs it not clear that this is a case of the price of food rising after the abandonment of bulk purchase? Does the Minister now recognise, as some of his answers indicate, his own responsibility for protecting the consumer?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeI certainly do recognise my responsibilities, having some knowledge of the facts before I answered the Question. We have not abandoned bulk purchase. The system is exactly the same as it was. We have contracts with some of the Dominions until 1954, and all that has happened is that spot purchases, which we used to make as a Ministry, are now made by the trade, and world prices have gone up since then.
§ Mr. JayIs not the Minister aware that a large proportion of the trade has been returned to private hands, in consequence of which prices have risen?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeI am trying to tell the right hon. Gentleman that, even if it had not been returned to private hands, the price would have gone up because world prices have gone up.