§ 3. Sir Percy Hurdasked the President of the Board of Trade whether it is by his direction that officials of his Department are requiring the public, when ordering new suits, to state the uses to which coat, waistcoat and hip pockets in trousers are to be applied; and whether he will leave these matters to the discretion of the wearers?
§ Mr. DaltonMy hon. Friend has been misinformed. The present restrictions on the number of pockets are part of the regulations applied since May, 1942, in order to save material and labour. Where new suits are made with the permitted number of pockets, no inquiries as to the use of these are necessary, and none are made. Applications for additional pockets for special reasons are, however, sometimes made to my Department, and, before granting permission, it is the duty of my officers to satisfy themselves that the application is justified.
§ Sir P. HurdDoes the right hon. Gentleman not realise that this sort of thing brings his Department into public ridicule?
§ Mr. DaltonNo, Sir. I have told my hon. Friend that he is misinformed in making the statement for which he takes responsibility. I have read a certain weekly newspaper, not always uniformly truthful, from which I think he derives his information. That information is inaccurate.
§ Sir P. HurdIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the full text of the Board of Trade's letter was published in that journal?
§ Mr. DaltonYes, Sir, but the point I have been endeavouring to make clear is that such inquiries are made only in exceptional cases. The suggestion conveyed in this newspaper was that they are always made. I will give an illustration of the sort of exception that is made. Supposing that my hon. Friend were to lose his hearing, and wished to carry a deaf-aid on his person, it would be perfectly proper—and this often happens—for an application to be made to the Board of Trade for a special licence for an additional pocket in the waistcoat, to carry the instrument in. That is a perfectly good example.