HC Deb 17 December 1929 vol 233 cc1218-9W
Mr. D. G. SOMERVILLE

asked the President of the Board of Trade if his attention has been called to the current advance in the price of bread; and whether, in view of the present glut of wheat, he will obtain a Report from the Food Council as to the justification for this step?

Mr. W. GRAHAM

I am aware of the recent advance in the price of bread in London, which is due to an advance in the price of flour and is within the scale recommended by the Food Council. In these circumstances a special report by the Council is not called for. It is true that wheat stocks in the United Kingdom are much larger than last year, but the price of flour reflects the world price of wheat, and the total available supplies of the world (excluding Russia) for the present cereal year are estimated at 479,000,000 quarters as compared with 504,000,000 quarters for last year. Recently the world price of wheat has risen.