asked the Minister of Food whether he will arrange for compensation to be paid to potato growers in Cornwall whose early potatoes were left unmarketed owing to circumstances over which they had no control.

asked the Minister of Food whether, in view of the losses sustained by the Cornish farmers in relation to their early potato crop, owing to circumstances over which they had no control, he will arrange for adequate compensation.

I cannot agree that any compensation should be paid; most of the early crop has been cleared and there is a local market for the rest, which should be cleared by mid-September.

May I ask the Minister whether or not he has received the letter I sent him, and, if he has received it, will he reconsider this matter in view of the specific details I wrote to him on the subject?

Yes, I have received the hon. Member's letter and the enclosure, but the enclosure is not accurate. We have extended the period in view of the difficult weather conditions we have encountered, of which his correspondent did not seem aware, and in general I think we have met these growers pretty fairly.