HL Deb 21 April 1964 vol 257 cc651-2

2.35 p.m.

LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCH

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.

[The Question was as follows:

To ask Her Majesty's Government to state which public water supplies in the United Kingdom contain 5 or more parts per million of fluorine; what is the source of each of such supplies; when that source was brought into use; and, if the source was a borehole, what was its original depth and on what dates and to what extent it has subsequently been deepened or stopped off.]

THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT (LORD HASTINGS)

My Lords, part of the supply to West Mersea in Essex contains 5.8 parts per million of fluoride. The noble Lord will appreciate the difference between fluoride and fluorine. This is obtained from a borehole which is 450 feet deep, was brought into use in 1933, and has not subsequently been altered in depth. No other water put into public supply in the United Kingdom contains 5 or more parts per million of fluoride.

LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCH

My Lords, arising out of that Answer, would it therefore be true to say that the frequently made statement that people have been drinking water containing fluoride in this amount for generations in this country is not true?

LORD SHACKLETON

My Lords, will the noble Lord answer this question?

LORD HASTINGS

My Lords, I thought the noble Lord, Lord Douglas of Barloch, made a statement. I did not know that he asked a question.

LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCH

My Lords, I asked whether the noble Lord agreed that that was a correct deduction from what he said.

LORD HASTINGS

My Lords, I did not hear the question. But I do not agree that fluoride is harmful, if that is what the noble Lord is saying.

LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCH

My Lords, in view of the Answer which the noble Lord gave to my Question, I asked whether he would agree that it is not correct that people in this country have been drinking fluoride in their water supplies at that level for generations past.

LORD HASTINGS

My Lords, I never said it was correct that they had been drinking fluoride at that level for generations past.

LORD DOUGLAS OF BARLOCH

No; but the noble Lord's colleagues and the Ministry of Health have said so.

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