§ 51. Mr. Marplesasked the Minister of Agriculture, in view of the fact that meat production in the United Kingdom was estimated at 860,000 tons in 1948, what steps he is taking to correct the inaccurate figures in the Monthly Digest of Statistics, Issue No. 42, which gives an annual figure of 784,000 tons.
Mr. T. WilliamsNeither figure is inaccurate. The 860,000 tons which I gave to the hon. Member on 14th July was an estimate of total United Kingdom meat production and included meat produced and consumed by self-suppliers operating under Ministry of Food licences. The Statistical Digest figure, which is 794,000 tons, does not include self-supplier's meat, and there are also other small differences. The scope of the Digest figures is explained in a Supplement on Definitions published by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1947, to which I would refer the hon. Member.