§ Colonel Colvilleasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he is aware that in certain remote islands of Scotland the price of bread is higher than in other parts of the country and that this affects the standard of living to these islands; and whether he will take steps to level out the transport charges so as to enable bread to be sold at the same price throughout Great Britain?
§ Mr. MabaneThe price of bread in certain remote parts of Scotland and the islands has always been higher than in the large centres of consumption, where much of it is produced and from which it is sent by rail and steamer to the North and West. The fixing of maximum prices for bread has, generally speaking, brought prices in these areas more nearly into conformity with those of the rest of Scotland, and my Noble Friend is not prepared to go further and to subsidise transport charges in order to secure a degree of uniformity which did not prevail before the war and could not be sustained in a free market.