§ 10. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Minister of Food what proportion of the 1953 potato crop which he has received or expects to receive has now been sold.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeThe latest information is being assembled, and I will circulate the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT within the next day or two.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonHas the Minister of Food any reason to believe that there are some 500,000 tons of potatoes, many of which are rotting away in clamps up and down the country, and if that is so, will it not entail an expenditure by him of about £6 million by way of compensation to the growers? Can he not get rid of the stock?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeI could not accept the figures given by the hon. and gallant Gentleman, but he will appreciate that there is a big surplus from last year's record crop. We are handling the surplus as well as we possibly can, and I will let him know the figures in the next day or two.