§ 60. Mr. Skeffington-Lodgeasked the President of the Board of Trade under what arrangement U.S. fiction is imported into this country; and what he estimates will be its cost to us in a whole year.
§ Mr. BelcherI would refer my hon. Friend to the full statement on this matter which was circulated in the OFFICIAL REPORT in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Mid-Bedford (Mr. Lennox-Boyd) on 17th April last. The total value of books of all kinds and other printed matter for reading purposes imported from the U.S.A. during the first six months of 1947 was approximately £689,000. I am unable at present to give any estimate of the value of the fiction included in this total.
§ Mr. MikardoDoes that figure include printed matter which could hardly be described as being for reading, but is presumably intended for morons who can follow sensational stories only in pictures?