§ Q3. Dame Irene Wardasked the Prime Minister if he will give an assurance that Parliament will be consulted before nationalised boards or Government Departments adopt Continental timing or temperature measurement.
§ The Prime MinisterNo, Sir. People are becoming increasingly familiar with the 24 hour time system and the centigrade scale, and I am sure that whenever there is any question of extending their use the authorities concerned have full regard to the convenience of the public.
§ Dame Irene WardWithout wanting to prejudge the issue, does my right hon. Friend think it wise for the British Railways Board to support experiments on the North-East Coast and in the South-West without Parliament being made aware of them and without any discussion on the subject? Is he aware how difficult it is for people, particularly old people and children, to turn up at a railway station and find the trains announced by Continental timing when probably they have not even been abroad and do not know anything about it? Is it not a matter for Parliament?
§ The Prime MinisterI understand the difficulty. I believe that the train we used to call the 3 o'clock is now called the 15 o'clock. I would have thought that after ninety years of free and compulsory education and after two wars there were a lot of people who would understand this.