§ Viscount WOLMERasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware that when a farmer sells a heifer for which he receives £30 16s. 4d., the Minister of Food adds a charge of £6 9s. 9d. before the animal reaches the butcher; and whether the Government will reconsider this charge with a view to cheapening the food of the people?
§ Mr. McCURDYI have been asked to reply. As the Noble Lord has not stated the weight or grade of the animal referred to, it has been impossible to check the accuracy of his calculation. As I have frequently explained, the charges added by the Ministry of Food to the price paid to the farmer for cattle are required to cover the various expenses in connection with the conversion of live-stock into dead meat. These expenses include railage from the farm to the market and thence to the butcher, grading, lairage, and feeding charges, auctioncer's commission, market tolls, weighing and slaughtering charges, insurance against tuberculosis in the case of certain grades of rattle, together with the general expenses of administration. This procedure is an essential part of the scheme for the control of live stock, and cannot therefore be discontinued so long as guaranteed prices for cattle remain in operation.