Cheese (Hansard, 19 November 1952)

§ 12. Mr. Lewis
asked the Minister of Food on what date he received a telegram from the Agriculture Minister of Ontario Province offering 10 million lb. of Canadian cheese for Christmas; and what was the nature of his reply.

§ 31. Mrs. Mann
asked the Minister of Food what answer he has given to the offer made by Canada of 10 million lb. of top quality cheese which could be delivered to this country before Christmas; and if he will make a statement.

§ Major Lloyd George
The offer was received on 6th November, and on the same day I sent the following reply: I very much wish I could accept your offer of Ontario cheese, but, as you know, our financial position does not permit this expenditure of dollars. I look forward to the time when we have built up our economic position and can turn to you again for this valuable food.

§ Mr. Lewis
We are all very sorry indeed that we are not in the financial position to be able to get this cheese. Is the Minister aware of the fact that 1843 when the Labour Government were in office and these facts were put to the people the Opposition at that time kept pooh-poohing any idea that there were currency restrictions that stood in the way? Are we now to take it that after 12 months in office the Minister is just seeing the error of his ways during the last six or seven years?

§ Major Lloyd George
I appreciate the fact that the hon. Gentleman says that his party are sorry at the position we are in, and we shall try to do something about it.

§ Mrs. Mann
Is the Minister aware that cheese is a very valuable protein food, and in view of the increase in the wholesale prices, could he not spare the dollars for this very valuable food?

§ Major Lloyd George
I cannot add anything to the last sentence of my telegram to Ontario, that when we are in a position to do so we shall be only too glad to buy it.

§ 13. Lieut.-Commander Maydon
asked the Minister of Food, in view of the figures he gave in reply to a question on 20th October, and in view of the difficulty of increasing the cheese ration from non-dollar sources, if he will consider importing larger quantities of dried and tinned liquid milk products, preferably from Empire countries, so that a higher proportion of home-produced milk can be diverted to cheese making.

§ Major Lloyd George
Dried and canned milk are mainly manufactured during the season when cheese factories are already working to capacity. Even if it were possible therefore to increase imports this would not release significant quantities of milk for the production of more cheese.

§ Lieut.-Commander Maydon
Would my right hon. and gallant Friend not agree that any effort to increase our cheese ration from home-produced milk would be worthy of investigation? Could he not undertake to see if some improvement could be found?

§ Major Lloyd George
I certainly would, but, as my hon. and gallant Friend knows, at the moment they are working to full capacity, and he will realise that we are making a quite considerable amount more cheese than before the war.

§ 33. Mr. Willey
asked the Minister of Food the amount of rationed cheese consumed per ration book for the period 31st October, 1951, to 31st October, 1952; and the corresponding amount for the period 31st October. 1950, to 31st October, 1951.

§ Major Lloyd George
About 5¼ lb. and 7¾ lb., respectively.

§ Mr. Willey
In view of this marked difference, does the right hon. and gallant Gentleman realise that all these imports are matters of priority and it is about time the Ministry of Food got a higher priority? Against this background there is no excuse for not taking Canadian cheese.

§ Mr. Osborne
Would the Minister agree that the cheese we are having this year is being paid for out of our national earnings, whereas last year we had to pay for it out of reserves and the money we used was not earned?

§ Dr. Stross
Would the Minister not agree that there is a very important nutritional and health point of view in this matter? Will he not use the advice of his own committee and that of the Ministry of Health to bring pressure on the Treasury for a larger allocation of dollars so that we can have a little more cheese?

§ Major Lloyd George
I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that cheese has a very high nutritional value. I constantly look for opportunities to get particularly this type of commodity into the country.