§ 34. Mr. Ellis Smithasked the First Commissioner of Works whether he will arrange for the installation of suitable apparatus to be fixed in the House of Commons to enable speeches to be amplified in the same way that they are in the Chamber of the House of Lords?
§ Captain Dugdale (Lord of the Treasury)I have been asked to reply. The technical problems involved in the installation of a system of sound amplification in this House are more complicated than those arising in another place, principally in view of the widely dispersed places from which hon. Members in this House speak. Any system, for instance, which would give the desired amplification of the voices of speakers in all parts of this Chamber would almost inevitably be apt equally to amplify all asides and private observations or conversations! My right hon. Friend has carefully considered the matter, as have his predecessors, and he considers that, apart from the expense, the disadvantages of introducing amplifiers would outweigh any possible advantages.