§ 38. Mr. Roebuckasked the Lord President of the Council whether he will give for the last convenient 12-month period the total cost of services and accommodation provided for the Press and broadcasting authorities in the House of Commons; and if he will list in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of this expenditure, including an apportionment of the relevant capital costs.
§ Mr. RoebuckWould my right hon. Friend agree that the amount is not insubstantial? Has he received any approach from newspaper proprietors with a view to their reducing the immense cost to the taxpayer? Would he further agree, in view of the adverse comments in some sections of the Press about the cost of providing additional facilities for some hon. Members so that they can do their work properly, that the newspaper proprietors have a right to indicate clearly that the provision of Press facilities costs the taxpayer a large sum of money?
§ Mr. PeartI have had no communication from any newspaper proprietor. 1293 It may well be that my hon. Friend's Question may stimulate this.
Most of the services provided for the Press and broadcasting authorities in the House of Commons are included in the total cost of services. No separate account is kept of the cost, for example, of lighting and heating. This is the difficulty.
§ Sir G. NabarroWill the Leader of the House bear in mind that Members would be utterly emasculated without the Press?
§ Mr. PeartI can never imagine a situation where the hon. Member would be emasculated, or indeed is. I pay tribute to the Press, and I am glad that he, too, paid tribute.