§ 46. Mr. Russellasked the Lord President of the Council what quantities of bricks, cement, timber and steel will be used in the construction of the car park and funfair which are being provided in Battersea Park in connection with the Festival of Britain.
§ 47. Mr. H. A. Priceasked the Lord President of the Council what quantities of materials, steel, cement, softwoods, and bricks, respectively, which could otherwise have been used for the construction of houses and flats, will be used in the South Bank scheme of the Festival of Britain.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonIf the Festival is to open successfully on time the entire staff must be allowed to devote all their energies to the task which has been assigned to them with the approval of all parties in this House. I am accordingly not prepared to instruct them to divert their efforts to the compilation of detailed estimates of this character.
§ Mr. RussellIs the right hon. Gentleman quite satisfied that the Battersea Park part of the Festival of Britain will in no way slow down the housing programme?
§ Mr. PriceIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that, while thousands of tons of cement are being poured into the scheme, the housing programme in Lewisham, in which he and I have an interest, is held up owing to a cement famine? Will he see that builders in Lewisham get cement?
§ Mr. MorrisonI do not think that is so. In any case, if the official Opposition wish to bring the Festival of Britain to an end—after all, it has big national purposes, with which we have all been associated—I think they ought to say so. In the meantime, I am entitled to the view that, because of the general spirit of the House in the last Parliament and the co-operation we achieved, the people who are running this Festival—which, I think, is of great national importance—ought to be protected against this sharpshooting?
§ Mr. SpeakerWe have had a lot of supplementaries on this Question.
§ Mr. MarloweOn a point of Order. Questions Nos. 46 and 47 were answered together, Sir.
§ Mr. SpeakerI beg the hon. and learned Member's pardon. I did not notice that.
§ 48. Mr. Russellasked the Lord President of the Council to what extent it is proposed to hold demonstrations of British sports and games on the South Bank site during the Festival of Britain; what is the size of the ground on which they axe to be held; and how far representative sporting organisations were consulted before the ground was selected.
§ Mr. H. MorrisonThe Festival Exhibition on the South Bank will deal prim- 1192 arily with British achievements in the fields of science, technology and industrial design. There will be no demonstration of British sports and games as such, but British sports equipment will, so far as possible, be shown in action. A lawn, measuring 130 feet by 50 feet, besides the Sports Section, will be used for these demonstrations.
§ Mr. RussellIs it a fact that on this pocket handkerchief sized lawn it is proposed to hold demonstrations of Rugby, Soccer, Cricket and Archery? Does the right hon. Gentleman think that a ground of that size is suitable for those sports?
§ Mr. MorrisonI have never seen a pocket handkerchief of this size, but we are co-operating with the various sports organisations so that British sports can, play their part on this great national occasion.
§ Sir H. WilliamsWill the right hon. Gentleman try to display the transmigration of a Communist into a nationalised Minister?
§ Mr. HaireWill my right hon. Friend see that Chelsea football team, and not Chelsea Borough Council, take part in this Festival?