§ 46. Mr. Sexton (for Mr. W. Joseph Stewart)asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster the amount of Government work in connection with rearmament, and the value of such work that has been placed with firms in the administrative county of Durham, and the county boroughs of South Shields and Sunderland, during the years 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938, respectively?
§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr. W. S. Morrison)In answer to the first part of the question, I am obtaining the figures, and, with the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate them in the Official Report in the course of the next few days. With regard to the second part of the question, I regret that it is not possible, without an undue amount of labour, to ascertain the value of orders placed under the rearmament scheme in any county or any Special Area. To obtain the information asked for by the hon. Member would require an amount of work which I would not willingly impose on the Service Departments under existing conditions of pressure. It would, moreover, not be possible to collect information about these particular areas and to refuse to collect it about other places. The resultant work would be overwhelming.
§ Sir J. HaslamMay I ask my right hon. Friend whether the first call upon his services is not in connection with the Duchy about which he gets his title and sits on that bench, and whether he will bear Lancashire in mind?
§ Mr. MuffIs it not a fact that the right hon. Gentleman has most of his work provided for him from our county of Yorkshire?