§ 5. Mr. Ness Edwardsasked the Assistant Postmaster-General why details of the increases in charges for overseas telegrams were not made available to hon. Members; and why the details were withheld from publication in the London Gazette until 29th August, when the increases were to operate from 1st September.
§ Mr. GammansThe main effect of the new charges was explained in my reply to the Question by my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich (Mr. Robert Jenkins) on 30th July. The list of actual charges takes up more than 17 pages of the Gazette and, in order to avoid misunderstanding and confusion, it is desirable that publication, both in the Gazette and in the Post Office Guide, should be reasonably near to the day on which the charges are due to take effect.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsMy complaint is not that it took up so much time but that hon. Members of this House are surely entitled to this information, which could have been made available either in the Library or in HANSARD? I think it is quite wrong that the public should not have this information at the earliest possible date rather than the day before it happened.
§ Mr. GammansI think the right hon. Gentleman has forgotten Regulation 1023 of 1950, for which I think he was responsible, which states there is no question of laying this information before the House but that a statement should be published in the way it has been published.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsBut surely the hon. Gentleman does not make that the excuse for delaying publication for a month?
§ Mr. GammansNo, Sir, not delaying publication? In my original answer to the Question I gave a pretty clear idea of what the increased charges would be.