Mr. R. Duckworthasked the Minister of Food whether, in any further distribution of oranges or other commodity in short supply, he will, in order to avoid disappointment, refrain from saying there are enough supplies for everybody, since the Christmas orange allocation was only available to those people who were able to stand in queues for long periods and those workers only able to shop on Saturday afternoons could not obtain any.
§ Colonel LlewellinI have never said that there are enough supplies for everybody. I have, however, said that sufficient oranges are being distributed to give a certain weight of oranges per head. Retailers of oranges are required to mark the ration books of customers during the first five days after the receipt of oranges in the shops. With such a perishable commodity this is as near as we can get to a strict system of rationing, and I am satisfied that it does secure a fair degree of equity in distribution. But I must give some figure so that retailers know what amount to issue per ration book presented.