Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 March 1947.
Dr Edith Summerskill
, Fulham West
12:00,
19 March 1947
I would not. The hon. Member would be surprised how many married women do not know what their husbands earn. Finally, I must remind hon. Members who have raised this matter—I hope that as far as figures are concerned that I have been able to satisfy them—that in the last war, except for a very few people, most men and women in this country were pulling their weight. Those men and women who were working in the Ministry of Food did serve a very useful purpose and are doing so now. Many of them are highly skilled. Hon. Members who listen to questions on food being answered from this Box must know that the Ministry of Food today is the biggest trading concern in the world, and these men and women who serve in the food offices require a detailed knowledge of matters which concern every kind of commodity. We cannot lightly dispense with their services, but I can assure hon. Members that we shall continue to regard sympathetically every application from ex-Service men or women made to the Ministry of Food.