§ 1. Miss Burtonasked the Minister of Food what action he has decided to take following his consideration of the suggestions put forward by the Retail Fruit Trade Federation for the reorganisation and development of the distributive side of the fruit and vegetable trade.
§ The Minister of Food (Major Lloyd George)The proposal of the Retail Fruit Federation is still under examination.
§ Miss BurtonDoes the Minister realise how weary the country is becoming of things being "under consideration"? The Government have had a further 10 weeks to look at this. Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that during the Recess bananas have been turned into pig food because the distributive system was so bad that they could not reach the shops or the hospitals in time and that growers could not collect their plums because it did not pay them? Is that the sort of distributive system that the Government intends to enforce?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeI think the House will agree that consideration is required before proceeding to action. This is by no means the only proposal which has been put forward. All the proposals which have been put forward—some were put forward in the time of the last Government and I do not see that any action was taken on them—are being examined. There is by no means unanimity on any of the proposals, and there is no great clarity as to what some of them are. 666 However, they are now being examined and the appropriate departments are considering them.
§ Miss BurtonIs the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that in politics one cannot please all the people all the time and that it is better to take a risk by doing something rather than nothing?