§ 16. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications whether he is aware that many business houses in London are willingly paying 2s. 6d. for the cost of delivery of a letter to a restricted Central London area; and whether he will give a general direction to enable the Post Office Board to charge 2s. 6d. for each business letter delivered within the centres of large cities.
§ Mr. ChatawayI am aware of the Press reports. It would be a recipe for decimating the postal service.
§ Mr. LewisI cannot understand this. If business houses are voluntarily paying as much as 2s. 3d. or 2s. 6d. a letter for a restricted area surely they will be pleased to pay 2s. when the Post Office gets back to normal?
§ Mr. ChatawayIf the hon. Member has any evidence that businesses are sending the same volume of traffic through the private services as they would through the Post Office it would surprise me.