§ 15. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will give an estimate of how much additional newsprint would be needed to end rationing, and of what the cost would be if purchased from dollar sources.
§ Mr. P. ThorneycroftNo, Sir. The revocation of the statutory controls on newsprint does not depend solely on the level of supplies. I certainly could not say what quantity would be consumed if there were a free market.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonWhy is the President of the Board of Trade so evasive on this subject? He knows how many millions of dollars have been wasted on other things, but he does not know how much would be involved in this proposal. Is the stubborn retention of this last bit of rationing due to the fact that the Government want to restrict Press advertising in favour of commercial television?
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI think that it may have rather more to do with the fact that we eat wheat but not newsprint. It is 1483 not possible to start making estimates now of what consumption might be at some future date.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonWhy object to it on dollar grounds?