§ 20. Mr. Swinglerasked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if, for the purpose of speeding up and spreading the dissemination of British news and views in far away parts of the world, he will take steps to improve and cheapen the air service for printed material.
§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Dr. Charles Hill)I understand from my right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General that only in exceptional cases do printed papers sent by air get slower treatment than first-class letters. He is constantly looking for ways to speed up air mails sent from Britain.
For air mail the postal handling charges represent only a small proportion of the postage rate. The major portion is due to charges made by the air carriers who transport the mail. For air freight, the carriers will allow a 50 per cent. reduction in their rates for newspapers and magazines despatched in consignments of more than five kilos.
While recognising that cheaper air mail and air freight rates would be helpful to the circulation of British newspapers, books and periodicals the Government cannot undertake to subsidise these rates.
§ Mr. SwinglerWhilst thanking the right hon. Gentleman for that long reply, may I ask whether he will go into the matter very seriously with the Postmaster-General? Is he aware that it is essential to distribute bulky trade magazines and technical journals to places like South-East Asia and South America as rapidly as possible because of the spread of Communist influence but that these rates are a very serious handicap to proper distribution?
§ Dr. HillI shall convey to my right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General what the hon. Member has said.
§ Mr. Anthony GreenwoodAre we to gather from the reply of the right hon. Gentleman that the speed with which the material is carried is likely to be improved in the near future?
§ Dr. HillThe words I used were that my right hon. Friend is constantly looking for ways of speeding up air-mail from Britain.
§ Mr. GreenwoodI asked what that means.