§ Mr. Keelingasked the Minister of Food why he will not extend the Order limiting the prices at which whisky and gin are served with meals in restaurants to the prices at which they are sold in bars; 380W and why he will not control the prices of bottles of whisky and gin in shops.
§ Sir B. Smith,pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 3rd April, 1946; Vol. 421, C. 1254], supplied the following statement:
I do not propose to extend the Order limiting the prices at which whisky and gin are served with meals in restaurants to cover the prices at which they are sold in bars, because—
(1) The amenities provided in bars vary enormously, not only between different establishments but also between different bars in the same establishment, and the charges made for drinks have always reflected these differences. It would be quite impracticable to fix scales of charges varying with the amenities. The alternative of a flat maximum charge irrespective of the class of bar would either tend to cause the drinks in question to be in less plentiful supply in the more expensive bars, if the charge were fixed at a price to suit the cheaper bars, or conversely, the high maximum prices appropriate to the expensive bars would be quite inequitable in the case of cheaper ones and would indeed tend to increase the prices there.
(2) There is no uniform measure for spirits. If prices were fixed per gill or fraction of a gill, every bar would need a set of officially marked measures which would be most difficult to provide under present conditions.
(3) Prices were fixed for whisky and gin served with meals in restaurants primarily to prevent a simple evasion of the price restriction for meals. The fact that in this limited case it has been found possible to fix prices for whisky and gin affords no assurance that the same could be done effectively in every bar in the country.
I do not doubt that the vast bulk of the sales by the bottle of whisky and gin in this country are effectively controlled at the proper price by the assocaiations concerned.
(1) There is no doubt that the vast bulk of the sales by the bottle of whisky and gin in this country are effectively controlled at the proper price by the associations concerned.
(2) It would be necessary for the Ministry's enforcement officers to devote a considerable amount of energy to 381W policing any such Order and in my opinion this can be better spent on the control of essential foodstuffs.
(3) The remedy for this particular evil, which I am advised is a somewhat local phenomenon, lies in the hands of the public themselves.
(4) I am convinced that, if this proposal were put into effect, it would not result in any increase in the quantities of whisky or gin available for sale by the bottle at the proper prices; it might well have the opposite effect.