§ 6. Mr. Straussasked the Minister of Works whether, in view of the recommendations by a committee of the Arts Council which surveyed the housing of the arts in London and in the annual report of the Royal Opera House that his Department should purchase the Opera House rather than continue to hold it on the present short lease, he proposes to open negotiations to this end.
§ The Minister of Works (Lord John Hope)I cannot add anything at present to the reply by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the hon. Member for St. Pancras, North (Mr. K. Robinson) on 26th January, 1960.
§ Mr. StraussAlthough the right hon. Gentleman's Answer says practically nothing, will he at least say that, in general, he is in sympathy with the idea that something should be done about this matter and that it is really quite ridiculous and indefensible that the whole of our opera and ballet should be in private hands and that the building will revert to private ownership in thirty years' time, making it quite impossible to carry out now the necessary improvements and modernisation which the building so urgently requires?
§ Lord John HopeThe right hon. Gentleman's Question really goes to the merits of the case, and I do not want to comment on them. I would remind the right hon. Gentleman that he is scarcely accurate in his substantive Question about the short lease because, in point of fact, it still has thirty-one years to run.