§ MR. CLAUDE HAY (Shoreditch, Hoxton.)To ask the Postmaster-General whether, in the event of his coming to an arrangement with the National Telephone Company during the autumn as to the purchase of their undertaking, he will give the House an opportunity of discussing the terms of purchase before the Government are committed to the same, in order that the interests of the users of the telephone and the taxpayers may be 399 properly protected; whether he will agree in any event to refer the agreement, if any, to a Select Committee; and whether, in the event of his deciding to postpone the purchase until 1911, he will reduce the rates of the Post Office service, especially the charge for unlimited service.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) With regard to the first part of the hon. Member's Question, I have already pledged myself that no agreement between the Post Office and the National Telephone Company for purchase of their undertaking will be considered binding until the House of Commons has had an opportunity of expressing its opinion thereon. I have nothing to add to that assurance, except that I am unable to accept the suggestion which the hon. Member's Question appears to convey, that the Government is not likely to protect the interests of the users of the telephone and the taxpayer. The question of the rates charged for the Post Office service is one that must be considered on its merits apart from any question of purchase.