§ 27. Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Food if he has considered the letter from the hon. Member for West Ham, North on the question of the price of tea and the large profits being made on the retail prices charged; and whether, in view of the new information submitted to his Department, he will now reimpose price control on tea.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeThe hon. Member will have now received my reply to his letter. The answer to the second part of the Question is "No, Sir."
§ Mr. LewisThat reply does not answer the point in "The Grocer." May I ask what the Minister's reply is to the tea advertisement, which says "The price must rise we hate to say, but the profit there is is here to stay"—20 per cent, profit? Is it not time that the Minister did something to curb these high profits by again controlling the price of tea, so making it possible for old-age pensioners and the poorer sections of the population to afford their full tea ration?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeI am sure the hon. Member agrees that, as I said in my letter, it is a little dangerous to take one example and to regard it as the common practice.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeTwo, if the hon. Member wishes. On average, the retail margins under control were slightly higher than they are today under a free market.