§ Mr. JAMES WALTONasked the Food Controller if he is aware that during the week-end, 24th May, the township of Mexborough, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, with an industrial population of 18,000, was deprived of its supply of meat owing to the Live Stock Commissioner, or his representative, refusing to allow the cattle to be taken alive to the district; if he is aware that the Regulation preventing the removal of live cattle by the butchers to their own registered slaughter-houses is seriously inconveniencing the whole- 1692W some supply of meat during the hot weather; and will he consider the advisability of modifying or withdrawing the Regulation?
§ Mr. McCURDYThe Food Controller has no information to the effect stated in the first part of the question. Inquiries are, however, being made, and the hon. Member will be informed of the result. As regards the second part, I am informed that farmers in Yorkshire prefer as a rule to sell their stock on the dead-weight basis to Government authorised slaughterhouses; and the resulting home-killed meat must be distributed to local butchers as part of their allocation of home-produced stock in order to avoid unnecessary transport and to ensure distribution as soon as possible after slaughter. The Food Controller is not prepared to deprive the farmer of his right to sell his stock on the dead-weight basis if he prefers to do so, nor can he sanction the policy of sending live stock by rail into a district in which supplies of home-killed meat are already available.