§ 44. Mr. P. Noel-Bakerasked the Minister of Transport how many British ships passed through the Suez Canal in 1955 and 1959, respectively.
§ Mr. HayFour thousand three hundred and fifty-eight ships registered in the United Kingdom passed through the Canal in 1955. The Suez Canal Authority has not yet published statistics for December, 1959, but during the eleven months to November, 1959, 3,581 ships registered in the United Kingdom passed through the Canal. The number of ships in the corresponding period of 1955 was 3,974.
§ Captain PilkingtonIs not the big difference between those two years that in 1955 the Canal was free for all and it is not now?