§ 17. Mr. Willeyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware of the shortage of supplies of butter; and if he will negotiate Government contracts to increase supplies.
Mr. AmoryI am not aware of any shortage of butter in the shops. Adequate supplies are now coming forward from New Zealand and Australia in addition to the usual seasonal Danish shipments. The second part of the Question does not therefore arise.
§ Mr. WilleyIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that New Zealand has diverted supplies away from this country; that the Danes are sending supplies to Western Germany; that the present retail price of best butter is now 4s. 10d. per lb., and that there is really an obligation upon him to intervene in order to secure those supplies which will give a reasonable retail price?
Mr. AmoryI am quite satisfied that supplies which are likely to arrive in the near future will be adequate for the needs of the market.
§ Mrs. MannIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that New Zealand butter is 6d. cheaper than Danish butter, and it is quite unprocurable just now?
Mr. AmoryThe supplies of Danish butter usually decrease seasonally, and 12 that has happened this year. This factor has been emphasised—as the hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. F. Willey) has said—by the increased demand for Danish butter in other markets, but total supplies of butter are quite adequate for the expected demand of the market.
§ Mr. NabarroIs it not a fact that in any event the consumption of butter today is very substantially higher than when it was rationed by the hon. Gentleman opposite and his friends, and that the price of unrationed butter today is only very slightly higher than the price when it was rationed?