§ 42. Mr. Doddsasked the Secretary of State for War how many safety razor blades have been declared surplus by his Department since 1st January, 1955, and offered for sale at public auctions.
§ Mr. Hare8,595,100 razor blades have been declared surplus, of which 7,513,580 have already been sold at public auctions.
§ Mr. DoddsWill the right hon. Gentleman answer two questions? First, were these razor blades offered to the other two Services, and. second, why were these razor blades, which were sold at the rate of eight a penny, not sold to the troops? Is it that the troops are not now using razor blades?
§ Mr. HareThe answer to the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary is that the disposal of surplus stores is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Supply. The second part of his supplementary is really another matter, and I notice that the hon. Gentleman has another Question down on the Order Paper for next Tuesday——
§ Mr. H. MorrisonCan the Minister tell the House by what extraordinary and brilliant processes the War Office managed to accumulate 8 million-odd razor blades? How was it done?
§ Mr. HareThe vast majority of these razor blades were accumulated because we were fighting a great war; in other words, they were largely accumulated during the time when the right hon. Gentleman was a member of the Coalition Government.