HC Deb 19 March 1958 vol 584 cc1241-7
10. Mr. Blyton

asked the Postmaster-General if he will now arrange for Droitwich, Postwick, Lisnagarvey and Londonderry, to broadcast on 276 metres and for Stagshaw to have the exclusive use of 261 metres.

Mr. K. Thompson

No, Sir. The present arrangement whereby N.E. England and Northern Ireland share a wavelength is the most satisfactory in the general interest.

Mr. Blyton

Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the considerable dissatisfaction which has existed for years about the sharing of this wavelength? Does he appreciate that on Tyneside we are suffering, not from sunspots, but from sunstroke, as a result of his policy?

Mr. Thompson

I am aware of the dissatisfaction. I have been made very much aware of it in my present office. Unfortunately, there is not an easy solution to the problem.

Mr. Grey

Will the hon. Gentleman explain the difficulties of carrying out this suggestion?

Mr. Thompson

It would simply produce more difficulties for a larger number of people than does the present arrangement.

Dame Irene Ward

Owing to the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment.

11. Mr. Randall

asked the Postmaster-General what technical difficulties prevent the Midland and Welsh Regions from sharing a wavelength.

Mr. K. Thompson

Such an arrangement would spoil reception for many people in the Midland and Welsh Regions. In addition, the Welsh wavelength is particularly liable to interference from a foreign station. There is no escaping the fact that any sharing arrangement other than that between N.E. England and Northern Ireland would cause greater interference with reception.

Mr. Randall

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that his right hon. Friend has a record of ingenuity and enterprise and that I am certain that he must have looked into this matter very carefully? However, is he still satisfied that the greatest advantage goes to the greatest number with the present method of sharing the wavelength, in view of the agitation coming from the North-East?

Mr. Thompson

The best research which we can make into this matter bears out that this is the best arrangement.

Dame Irene Ward

Why does my hon. Friend not explain to hon. Members opposite that a Question asked on 22nd September, 1948, and answered by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Dearne Valley (Mr. Wilfred Paling) pointed out that the International Convention showed that the B.B.C. would be broadcasting just as satisfactorily as before, and that——

Mr. Speaker

I understood that the hon. Lady gave notice to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

Dame Irene Ward

It was not this particular matter. May I finish my supplementary question?

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Lady gave notice on the previous Question that she would raise a matter which seems to me almost indistinguishable from that of her present supplementary question.

Mr. Chetwynd

Could we not have fair shares of dissatisfaction? As the North-East has been dissatisfied for so long, would it not be better to spread the dissatisfaction somewhere else and give us a better wavelength?

Mr. Thompson

We have long recognised that fair shares of dissatisfaction was the policy of the party opposite. We try to do the best we can in the broad general interest.

12. Mr. Randall

asked the Postmaster-General when the North-East will be given a separate wavelength.

Mr. K. Thompson

It is not possible to allocate a medium wavelength for the exclusive use of the North-East. It already has a separate wavelength in the V.H.F. service.

Mr. Randall

Will not the hon. Member listen to the protests coming from the North-East and try to find some way of solving this problem? Is he aware that this is a densely populated industrial area whose workers have contributed greatly to the national output? Does not this fact merit their having a better service from the B.B.C. than they are getting at the moment because of the shared wavelength?

Mr. Thompson

I would not like the House to think that this matter has not had the most careful and prolonged consideration, because it has, both by my right hon. Friend and also his predecessors. We are faced with the immovable fact that this is the best arrangement which can be made while there are not sufficient wavelengths to go round. That is what we have to take into account.

13. Mr. Short

asked the Postmaster-General if he will introduce a lower broadcasting receiving licence fee for listeners in the North-East of England and Northern Ireland, in view of the fact that, unlike all other listeners, they share a wavelength.

Mr. K. Thompson

No, Sir.

Mr. Short

Is not the hon. Member aware that millions of people in the North-East and Northern Ireland have to pay the same licence fee as everybody else when they are getting what is virtually a foreign language programme in half of their regional service? Is not this grossly unjust? Will he not at least look into the matter again and try to do something for us? We are sick and tired of raising this matter, but we are going to keep on doing so until something is done.

Mr. Thompson

I quite expect that. The hon. Member is quite wrong in saying that these areas get half their regional programmes in a foreign language. The fact of the matter is that about 10 per cent. of the total programme content comes from Northern Ireland. The licence fee cannot be altered according to the use made of a receiver; it relates to the installation and use of the receiver generally, and any other system would be quite unworkable.

Mr. Shinwell

Did the hon. Member not say, in reply to a previous Question, that there were not enough wavelengths to go round? If so, why should the North-East be placed at a disadvantage? If it is to be placed at a disadvantage, why should its people be charged the full fee when they are getting only half a service?

Mr. Thompson

The right hon. Gentleman has managed very adroitly to combine three previous Questions. I shall try to avoid giving him the three previous Answers. The fact of the matter is that, while there are not sufficient wavelengths for each region to have its own, some device must be adopted which makes it possible for the regions to share a wavelength in a way which will inflict the least possible hardship and inconvenience on listeners. In other words, it means seeing that the mush area falls where nobody gets it—that is, in the Irish Sea; nobody gets it there.

14. Mr. Short

asked the Postmaster-General what action he proposes to take in view of the persistent refusal of the British Broadcasting Corporation to use a separate wavelength for programmes broadcast to the North-East of England; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. K. Thompson

There is no action I can usefully take. With the medium wavelengths available, the present arrangement is the best that can be made in the general interest.

Mr. Short

Is it not obvious that the B.B.C. has dug its toes in and refused to do anything about it? Is it not clear that the B.B.C. people in charge of the matter are either indifferent to the complaints of the North-East or are incompetent? Will not the Minister shake up the B.B.C. in this matter?

Mr. Thompson

I can assure the hon. Member that the B.B.C. is not unaware of the problem or of the dissatisfaction of hon. Members opposite and residents in the North-East, and nor is it incompetent in its method of handling its wavelengths. There is a real problem here.

Colonel Beamish

Why should the North-East of England have a separate wavelength? The South-East of England does not have one.

15. Mr. Short

asked the Postmaster-General whether he will initiate discussions with the United States forces with a view to one of their medium wavelengths being made available for the North-East of England.

Mr. K. Thompson

No, Sir. Even if the United States forces in Germany were to give up one of their wavelengths there is little likelihood of it becoming available to the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Mr. Short

Does the hon. Member think it is right that a comparatively small number of men in the forces in Germany should have a separate medium wavelength while millions of people in these islands do not have one? Would not the suggestion in the Question be a good method of improving relations between America and Britain?

Mr. Thompson

Even if the wavelength were given up by the American forces, there is no assurance—indeed, there is not much likelihood—that it would be made available to us.

Mr. D. Jones

Surely the hon. Member must recognise that for many years the North-East has had to suffer this sharing, much to its dislike. If he is satisfied that the licence fee should be the same over the whole country, does he not think that in common fairness to the North-East the sharing of a wavelength should apply to some other part of the country?

Mr. Thompson

The hon. Member is asking us to inflict an impossible situation on other people in the place of an uncomfortable situation suffered by the people in the North-East, and that would be unfair.

16. Mr. Grey

asked the Postmaster-General how long Northern Ireland and North-East England have shared a wavelength; and whether he will now arrange for two other areas to share for a similar period.

Mr. K. Thompson

Northern Ireland and North-East England have shared a medium wavelength since 29th July. 1945. As to the second part of the Question, the answer is "No, Sir." The present arrangement is the best that can be made in the general interest.

Mr. Grey

Is the hon. Member aware that I have sent him a letter today in connection with this Question? If the Postmaster-General and his Parliamentary Secretary do not give us any satisfaction, the best thing they can do is to resign. It seems to us that they have proved themselves quite incompetent by having done nothing at all throughout the years.

Mr. Thompson

I cannot help thinking that it would be greatly to the disadvantage of the Post Office if either my right hon. Friend or I were to resign.

Dame Irene Ward

Is my hon. Friend aware that between 1948 and 1950, when our wavelength was taken away from the North-East Coast, and when hon. Members opposite were the Government and we were in opposition, not an hon. Member opposite even raised the question?

Mr. Grey

On a point of order. May I be allowed to correct that statement?

Mr. Speaker

That is not a point of order.

Mr. Grey

It is quite incorrect.

17. Mr. Grey

asked the Postmaster-General what consultations he has held regarding the allocation of broadcasting time on the wavelength shared between North-East England and Northern Ireland.

Mr. K. Thompson

None, Sir; the allocation of broadcasting time is a matter for the B.B.C.

Mr. Grey

Is the hon. Member aware that the North-East is fed up with this arrangement and is getting tired of hearing broadcasts of Northern Ireland news and views instead of the news and views and programmes which the North-East listeners would like?

Mr. Thompson

I can only repeat what I have said. However sorry I am about the effects of this arrangement, there appears to be nothing better which can be provided.

Mr. Chichester-Clark

Can my hon. Friend state what volume of complaint has come from Northern Ireland in this matter? Will he convey to hon. Members opposite our sorrow at the apparent fact that some of our programmes are too intellectually advanced for some who share this wavelength?

Mr. Thompson

Whatever the reason, we are getting no complaints from the people of Northern Ireland.

Mr. Short

On a point of order. The hon. Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) has given notice that she will raise this matter as it affects Lisnagarvey, Droitwich and Londonderry. I wish to give notice that I shall raise the question of the shared wavelength at the earliest possible moment.