HC Deb 16 June 1955 vol 542 cc740-1
22. Mr. Dye

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the supply of nitrogenous manures was insufficient to meet the requirements of farmers in Norfolk during May; and whether he will make a statement on future supplies.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

Apart from some temporary difficulties during the first days of the railway strike, neither I nor my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have had any complaint about shortages in Norfolk, and supplies generally are adequate.

Mr. Dye

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Ministry of Agriculture's executive officer had many complaints, and that one of the big distributors of artificial manures in Norfolk had ordered for May 750 tons, none of which was delivered in May? Did not his right hon. Friend, who spent so much time in Norfolk during May, notice that?

Mr. Thorneycroft

Both I and my right hon. Friend have looked carefully into the matter, and apart from one train load of fertilisers, which was, in fact, held up by the railway strike—a railway strike is bound to cause difficulties of this kind—there do not appear to have been any of the difficulties to which the hon. Gentleman refers. However, if there are points which he would like to put or individual cases to which he would care to draw attention, I or my right hon. Friend, as always, will be very happy to look into them.