§ 52. Sir W. Smithersasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs now that the Berlin air-lift has ended, to state the total cost of goods and transport and the proportion borne by the British taxpayer.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Mayhew)I am unable to state the total cost of the goods supplied to Berlin during the blockade; these were obtained from the Western zones without extra expense to the British taxpayer. The total extra cost of the air-lift to the British Exchequer was approximately £10 ¼ million. I have no information about United States expenditure on the air-lift, but the United States Air Force carried about 77 per cent. of the total load flown into Berlin.