§ Q1. Mr. Martenasked the Prime Minister if he will now merge the position of Minister of Posts and Telecommunications with the Ministry of Technology.
§ The Prime Minister (Mr. Harold Wilson)No, Sir.
§ Mr. MartenIn view of the recent debate on the Post Office, may I ask whether the Prime Minister thinks that the Post Office deserves two Ministers? Could he answer the question which neither of those Ministers could answer during that debate, whether the Post Office in view of its financial position will be raising postal charges before the General Election?
§ The Prime MinisterI have nothing to add to what was said by my right hon. Friend in that debate. But I think the hon. Gentleman for once is getting his time scale mixed. It was in 1964 when the hon. Gentleman was a member of the then Conservative Government that that Government published a Post Office revenue figure showing a potential deficit on the postal services alone of £12 million. When my right hon. Friend came into office he found that it was much greater and the prospective deficit for the next four years was £100 million, not published till after the election.