Mr. de la Bèreasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will draw the attention of the Food Council to the official prices which have been returned during the first part of May, 1939. and, in particular, to the price of London straight-run blended flour, which has been sold at 18s., whereas an official price of 24s. was returned; to the repeatedly false 1422W prices which are returned as official prices, which tend to put up the price of bread; and whether, in this connection, he will urge on the Food Council the advisability of inspecting the cables from the Canadian millers and comparing them with the home millers' prices, in order to see that the Food Council may be enabled to see whether the price which was returned as an official price is too high?
§ Mr. CrossI understand that the price of 18s. per sack quoted by my hon. Friend refers to a type of flour known as "country straights," which is unsuitable for use in commercial bread baking without admixture with a stronger and more expensive flour. The official price of 24s. per sack to which he refers is for standard grade flour suitable for baking. This price is subject to the usual commercial discounts, which, however, would in no case amount to a sum approaching 6s. per sack. The other parts of the question do not therefore arise.