§ 33. Mr. Wootton-Daviesasked the Minister of Fuel and Power, if he will give the statistical basis for the claim in the advertisements issued by his Department that the greatest emergency which industry has had to face since Dunkirk is now before it as a result of the critical coal shortage.
§ The Minister of Fuel and Power (Major Lloyd George)My hon. Friend has not quite correctly quoted the advertisements issued by my Department. What these advertisements stated was that the coal shortage is now critical and that this crisis was the greatest emergency that industry has had to face since Dunkirk. The statistical evidence for this statement is based on full figures of the consumption and stock position of every industrial establishment in the country which I keep constantly under review. I regret, however, that it would not be in the public interest to disclose this information.
§ Mr. Wootton-DaviesHas the Minister read the advertisement which says that the cause of the coal shortage is simply due to the fact that the war is now reaching its climax? Is he aware that it threatens efficient and inefficient people with the same penalties—use less coal or go without?