asked the Minister of Agriculture if he will state the amount of the subsidies paid to the industry of agriculture in the years 1935 to 1939 and from 1945 to 1949.

The subsidies paid to the agricultural industry in the United Kingdom were as follows:

					£ millions
1935–36	…	…	…	…	5.8
1936–37	…	…	…	…	5 1
1937–38	…	…	…	…	5.5
1938–39	…	…	…	…	6.9
1945–46	…	…	…	…	8.9
1946–47	…	…	…	…	9.7
1947–48	…	…	…	…	10.3
1948–49	…	…	…	…	22.1
1949–50	…	…	…	…	26.7

The pre-war figures include price supplements such as fat cattle subsidies and (in 1938–39) oat and barley subsidies but exclude wheat deficiency payments, which were not borne by the Exchequer.