asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Shipping Controller whether every ship arriving at a British port now brings such food as it can whatever may be its chief cargo and whether every such ship can discharge its food cargo at the first port of call in the United Kingdom?

All ships controlled by the Ministry of Shipping are loaded under instructions carefully framed with the object of maintaining supplies of food and other commodities essential to the War. Every effort is made to ensure that ships are discharged, coaled and loaded at one and the same port, and that these operations are carried out at the first port of call. The extent to which this policy can be carried out in practice is, however, limited in the last resort by the facilities for the distribution of supplies overland.