§ 6. Mr. Thomas Coxasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications if he will give a general direction to the Post Office Corporation to expedite the handling of mail to overseas countries.
§ Mr. ChatawayNo, Sir. This is a matter for the Post Office and it would not be appropriate for me to intervene.
§ Mr. CoxWould not the Minister agree that there are delays in the delivery of overseas mail? Certainly Christmas mail which was posted on or before the advertised latest date of posting was in some cases not delivered until January. This obviously causes a great deal of disappointment not only to the people here who post it but to the people who should be receiving the mail. Surely the right hon. Gentleman should show more consideration in this matter?
§ Mr. ChatawayI am willing to show full consideration. I know that the Post Office would be anxious to take up any individual case that the hon. Gentleman may have. He will recognise that some of the delays—as in the United States, where there has been a dock strike, or in Canada, where there has been a mail strike—are due to difficulties at the receiving end.
§ Mr. KilfedderWould not my hon. Friend agree that there is not much point in expediting mail unless it arrives at its proper destination? How did it come about that a letter from a brigadier in Norfolk to Colonel Derek Wilford, Commander of the First Battalion, Parachute Regiment, in my constituency was stolen and published without permission in a Dublin paper?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That does not arise on this Question.