§ 35. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council whether he is aware of the favourable response on the part of Members of Parliament to the introduction of the pre-printed, pre-stamped acknowledgement cards as now issued to Members; and, as a means of assisting Members to deal with the large amount of correspondence they are getting for and against Great Britain's entry into the European Economic Community, if he will have some specially printed acknowledgement cards issued dealing with this subject.
Mr. LewisOn a point of correction. The words "for and" should not be included before the word "against" as my Question is printed on the Paper. They are all against.
§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. William Whitelaw)I am glad to hear that the general acknowledgement cards have proved useful. I would not have thought it necessary to printed special acknowledgement cards relating to particular issues.
§ Mr. LewisThe Leader of the House has not seen anything yet, because hon. Members and, no doubt, members of the Government, are getting dozens of letters against our entry into the Common Market and I can assure him that it has not really started yet. It would be very helpful if he would have cards with just a statement saying
This is just one of hundreds of such letters Members of Parliament are receiving.393 A pre-paid card to that effect would help hon. Members enormously.
§ Mr. WhitelawWhether I see anything or not does not seem relevant at all. What is relevant is that the general acknowledgement cards are valuable, and we should stick to them on this occasion.
§ Sir C. TaylorWould my right hon. Friend consider printing three forms of card—one sort for, one against, and one undecided, so that the hon. Member could send the appropriate card to the appropriate constituent?
§ Mr. WhitelawI am quite clear that the best principle in the circumstances is to remain where we are with the general acknowledgement cards.