§ 105. Mr. Hurdasked the Minister of Food why he took no action to protect growers of broccoli in Berkshire and elsewhere from heavy imports of Italian broccoli at the time when the home crops were ready for market; and if he is aware that some growers, to avoid further financial loss, have had to feed good quality crops to cattle or allow them to waste on the ground.
§ 106. Mr. Beechmanasked the Minister of Food whether he is aware that imports of Italian broccoli are proving highly injurious to the producers of broccoli in this country; and whether he will take immediate steps to curtail such imports in order to prevent disaster from overtaking the Cornish industry.
§ Mr. StracheyI am glad to take this opportunity to correct the impression that Italian cauliflower imports were so heavy as to be responsible for the lower prices recently. They were in fact only a minor part of our total supplies which I am very glad to say were much heavier than normal for the time of the year. This was due partly to the overlapping of supplies of our own early broccoli and autumn cauliflower resulting from weather conditions.