asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will reconsider the decision that potato growers may no longer continue to sell to retailers and consumers; and why, since the existing custom of direct sale was continued by the Potato Marketing Scheme, he insists on the whole trade being placed in the hands of the authorised merchants, thus increasing cost of transport and destroying direct retail supply by farmers on well-established lines?

There has been no decision that potato growers should not continue to sell to retailers and consumers, or that the whole trade should be placed in the hands of the authorised merchants. Apart from the issue of Maximum Prices Orders, no steps have yet been taken to control in any way the trade in potatoes.

Mr. Graham White:

Is the Minister fully seized of the fact that a decision of the kind referred to would be regarded with the very gravest apprehension by the trade itself?

No such decision has been taken, and no such decision will be taken without further examination.