HC Deb 30 June 1948 vol 452 cc2188-9
17. Mr. Skeffington-Lodge

asked the Postmaster-General in what values the stamps issued to celebrate the liberation of the Channel Islands are available to the public; and why there is no indication on them of their association and object.

Mr. Wilfred Paling

1d. and 2½d. The scene depicts a familiar local activity and was selected as typical of the Channel Islands; the object has been announced widely in the Press.

Mr. Skeffington-Lodge

Does not my right hon. Friend recognise that there is no indication on the stamps that they are in any way associated with the Channel Islands; and will he explain why there has been this absurd mistake, so that philatelists are writing in and complaining to the Post Office that it does not know its job?

Mr. Paling

We have had no complaints at the Post Office. The Channel Islands people were taken into full consultation on this matter, and it was done with their consent.

Dr. Segal

In view of the fact that the penny stamp depicts a refuse cart drawn by one horse, and that the 2½d. stamp depicts a refuse cart drawn by two horses, could not the right hon. Gentleman add a few more horses and issue a few more stamps of a higher denomination?

Sir R. Ross

Have the people of the Channel Islands insisted that they must have stamps bearing these carts, horses and seaweed?

Mr. Paling

This design was approved by the Channel Islands people themselves.

Mr. Skeffington-Lodge

Would not either potatoes or tomatoes have been a more suitable emblem for these stamps?

Mr. Paling

I am not sure that that would have been appropriate to all the Islands.

Mr. Langford-Holt

Can the right hon. Gentleman tell me if these stamps are usable in this country, since I had a letter posted in the United Kingdom and received by me in London, bearing a Channel Islands stamp?

Mr. Paling

Yes, they are.