asked the Minister of Food for what reason he has refused increased allocation of foods for manufacturing purposes to the borough of Widnes; and if he will reconsider his decision, in view of the high figures of unemployment together with an excessively low level of wage rates prevailing in the borough in the years before the war.

I am afraid that the Ministry of Labour statistics of unemployment for this area—11.4 per cent. in 1939—do not bring it within the scheme; nor have I any evidence of excessively low prewar wage rates there as compared with other industrial areas outside the scheme.