HC Deb 30 April 1888 vol 325 c892
MR. M'LAGAN (Linlithgow)

asked the Postmaster General, If it is the case that, since the withdrawal of the morning mail from Glasgow and Edinburgh to London, the weekly papers from these and other towns in Scotland posted to residents in India, China, and Australia now reach London too late to catch the mail each Friday evening for Brindisi, and whether these papers now reach their destination a week later than hitherto in consequence; whether, now that the 6 a.m. mail from Glasgow and Edinburgh has been withdrawn, it is possible to make some other arrangements by which letters, newspapers, &c. posted after 9.30 p.m. in these cities, and the corresponding mails from other towns in Scotland, should be delivered in London on the following evening; and, whether any arrangement can be made for securing that correspondence, similarly posted, addressed to places on the Continent shall be carried by the night mail from London, thus avoiding the present delay of 12 hours?

THE POSTMASTER GENERAL (Mr. RAIKES) (Cambridge University)

It is the case that since the withdrawal of the 6 a.m. train from Glasgow and Edinburgh to the South newspapers published early on Friday morning cannot be included in the Eastern mails forwarded from London on Friday evening viâ Brindisi. The re-establishment of the 6 a.m. train would, according to the information hitherto supplied, involve a larger additional outlay than the circumstances appear to warrant; but I will consider further whether it is possible to make any other arrangements which by some, at any rate, of the facilities formerly existing may be restored.