HC Deb 14 February 1956 vol 548 c2148
13. Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

asked the President of the Board of Trade what restrictions are still imposed on the import and use of newsprint.

Mr. P. Thorneycroft

Imports of newsprint this year are subject to a limit which has, in fact, proved much above the amounts for which the Newsprint Supply Company has been able to place contracts.

As regards the use of newsprint, I hope to be able to make an announcement shortly.

Lieut.-Colonel Lipton

This has been going on a long time. Why do the Government cling so tenaciously to this last relic of rationing? [An HON. MEMBER: "Set the people free."] Are the Government so terrified of what the Daily Mirror,the Daily Expressor the Daily Heraldmight print if they had an extra page or two? Or is the balance of payments still so precarious, despite the last two successful Budgets, that we must choose between extra pages for newsprint or the devaluation of the £?

Mr. Thorneycroft

I can assure the hon. and gallant Gentleman that I am not clinging to rationing in this matter, and perhaps he will await the statement that I propose to make later this week.

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