Sitting of 29 January 1958

Preamble
The House met at half-past Two o'clock
PRAYERS
[Mr. SPEAKER in the Chair]
PRIVATE BUSINESS

  FORTH ROAD BRIDGE CONFIRMATION [MONEY]
  Considered in Committee.
  Resolved,
  That, for the purposes of any Act of the present Session to confirm an Order to authorise the Forth Road Bridge Joint Board to acquire additional lands and to construct further works, to repeal the provisions of the Forth Road Bridge Orders 1947 to 1954 relative to the financing of the undertaking of the said Board and to enact new provisions with respect thereto, and for other purposes, it is expedient to authorise—

  (a) the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of any grant or other payment made or sum provided by the Secretary of State under the said Act; and

  (b) the payment into the Exchequer of any receipts of the Secretary of State under the said Act.—[The Chairman of Ways and Means.]

  Resolution to be reported.
  Report to be received Tomorrow.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
  ROYAL AIR FORCE

    Education Branch (Officers)
    Mr. E. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Air to what extent under his regulations an officer in the Education Branch of the Royal Air Force, whose application to be considered as a volunteer for premature retirement under the terms of the White Paper, Command Paper No. 231 has not been approved, can apply again for early retirement without prejudice to his pension rights and without forfeiting the benefits provided under Command Paper No. 231.
    The Secretary of State for Air (Mr. George Ward): An officer whose application to retire prematurely is not approved
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    in any one phase of the redundancy scheme is free to apply in a later phase if he is within the age and seniority groups to which it relates.
    Mr. Johnson: Is my right hon. Friend aware that a good deal of anxiety is felt by those officers who applied for premature retirement and whose application was refused in view of the terms of Air Ministry Order No. 555, paragraph 10, which reads:
    "When an application has been rejected and an officer persists in a further application for premature retirement the Air Ministry may decide to approve the application without grant of benefits provided in Command Paper No. 231."
    Could my right hon. Friend please clarify that point?
    Mr. Ward: The people who applied were not, in fact, redundant. They were comparatively junior officers whom we want to keep because they are valuable to us and who, I think, have good career prospects. We could not let them go.
    Mr. E. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Air what is the proposed future establishment of officers, by ranks, in the Education Branch of the Royal Air Force and if he will make a statement about the future of that branch.
    Mr. Ward: As the Royal Air Force contracts, the reduction in establishment of the Education Branch will, as far as we can foresee, fall mostly, though not entirely, on the junior posts now mainly occupied by short service and National Service officers. I realise that my hon. Friend has been anxiously awaiting the results of the examination into the future structure of the branch, and I am sorry that I am not yet able to be precise about it. However, I have this morning satisfied myself that the delay has been unavoidable and that the report is now in the final stage. I will let my hon. Friend know as soon as I am able to make a full statement. This cannot, however, be in the immediate future, as there will have to be discussions about the report with Departments other than my own.
    Mr. Johnson: Is it not a fact that at a recent conference at Cranfield it was suggested that this establishment should consist of 950 officers, including, among others, 450 squadron leaders and 450 officers below that rank? Can my right

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    hon. Friend say what steps he is taking to ensure that there will be an adequate supply of junior officers in the future.
    Mr. Ward: I am quite sure that there will be an adequate supply provided they are certain that they are going to get a good career. If I may say so, with respect, this series of Questions which my hon. Friend is asking is not in fact helping recruitment to the Education Branch.
    Mr. E. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Air if, in order to end the block in promotion affecting squadron leaders in the Education Branch of the Royal Air Force, he will offer suitable inducements to those officers who are now entitled to serve until they are 60 years of age, to retire before that age.
    Mr. Ward: So far, we have maintained a reasonable flow of promotion from squadron leader to wing commander. As my hon. Friend knows, we are considering what can be done to preserve this position.
    Mr. Johnson: Is my right hon. Friend aware that, despite what he has said and despite the somewhat unjustified comments he made on my previous Question, everyone in the Education Branch knows perfectly well that there is a serious block in promotion, and, furthermore, there is a very real grievance and sense of injustice because a number of extremely highly qualified people were induced to join this branch on the promise of a promising career, and are now finding that they have no prospect of promotion whatever beyond the rank of squadron leader?
    Mr. Ward: I immediately apologise to my hon. Friend if I showed impatience or discourtesy, but the point I was trying to make was simply this, that he has been saying and is now saying that there are no promotion prospects and have been no promotion prospects in the Education Branch. This is not so. Promotion prospects—this has been said more than once—have up to now been comparable with those in any other branch of the Royal Air Force. We are aware that this may not be so in the future, and it is for this reason that our Committee is looking into the methods we can adopt to prevent a blockage.
    Mr. G. Thomas: In view of the fact that people in the Education Branch holding commissioned rank are very
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    highly qualified, and in view of the fact that there is widespread dissatisfaction with the present rate of promotion, can the Minister give the House an assurance that he will expedite the new policy so that men may know exactly where they stand in this matter?
    Mr. Ward: Yes. I should like to make it quite clear that promotion in the Education Branch is according to the planned career. I have already said that the report which will show us what we ought to do in the future is in its final stages.

    Dyce Station Headquarters, Aberdeen
    Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Air if he will make a statement on the headquarters and personnel at Dyce Airfield and at the city headquarters of the Royal Air Force, Aberdeen, indicating, in particular, why the change in location was effected, the effect on the number of employees employed there, the amount of redundancy thereby caused, and the steps which he is taking to provide employment for those made redundant.
    Mr. Ward: The station headquarters at Dyce is no longer needed because the Fighter Control Unit which was formerly located at Dyce now has its administrative centre, and carries out synthetic training, at its town headquarters in Aberdeen. Operational training is still carried out at Buchan. Nineteen posts have become redundant, but two of the men affected, including the one established employee, have been transferred to similar posts elsewhere. The redundancies were reported to the Ministry of Labour immediately they occurred.
    Mr. Hughes: Does this change mean that Aberdeen must give up all hope of a direct air service with the South, particularly London? If not, what prospects are there, now that this change has taken place, of such a direct service being effected in the near future?
    Mr. Ward: That is a matter which I must ask the hon. and learned Gentleman to take up with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation.

    Helicopters (Rescue Operations)
    Sir H. Roperasked the Secretary of State for Air on how many occasions last summer bathers and others in danger of

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    drowning were rescued by Royal Air Force helicopters.
    Mr. Ward: Between May and September last year, R.A.F. helicopters rescued twenty-eight people in danger of drowning off the coasts of Great Britain. This was, of course, in addition to their primary task of rescuing crews of aircraft forced down over the sea and to the assistance they gave in mountain rescue operations.
    Sir H. Roper: This rescue work being entirely outside the scope of the normal duties of the Royal Air Force, does my right hon. Friend not agree that the record is a very impressive one? Can he say how many of those rescues took place in Cornwall, and, in particular, how many took place from St. Mawgan Airfield?
    Mr. Ward: Not without notice.

    Christmas Island (Service Conditions)
    Mr. Winterbottomasked the Secretary of State for Air if he will institute an inquiry about the conditions in which Royal Air Force personnel are serving on Christmas Island; how long these unsatisfactory conditions have been in existence, despite complaints; and if he will give the House an assurance that a report on these conditions will be made available to all Members.
    Mr. Ward: No, Sir. I recognise that Christmas Island has a very difficult climate and that conditions have not been what we should have liked. But we know the problems; specialist medical and catering officers have visited the island; and many improvements are in hand.
    New tentage and furniture have recently arrived; temporary buildings, including a dining hall, are under construction. A special leave scheme has been introduced. These and other measures will, I am confident, improve conditions for the officers and men who have done such a magnificent job on the island. In the meantime, we are restricting the tour of duty to a normal maximum of twelve months, but allowing it to count as a full tour when planning subsequent postings.
    Mr. Winterbottom: Does the Minister understand that I am not trying to attack either him or his Ministry for what has taken place since he first received a
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    report about Christmas Island, but is he aware that, before that time, for 18 months there was near-revolt amongst the troops, to the extent that food was thrown at the commanding officer?
    Is he further aware that the dilapidated lavatories caused men even to dig holes in the ground, that tents have blown down, and that, altogether, conditions have been atrocious? Will he institute an inquiry to ascertain why there was not a report submitted to his Ministry before October of last year, eighteen months after the troops were there in conditions not greatly dissimilar from the infamous Burma Road?
    Mr. Ward: To take the first part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question first, I have had a look at this allegation of throwing food at the commanding officer, and I find that the facts are these. Two airmen quarrelled in the N.A.A.F.I. on a Saturday evening in October and started throwing beer tins at each other, and the rest joined in. The orderly sergeant and the service police, not the commanding officer, arrived, and, before order was restored, the police had taken their turn as a target—all of which, at least, shows that there was beer there. On the second point, I was last night talking to an N.C.O. who has recently returned from Christmas Island, and, from my talk with him, I am satisfied that many of these reports have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, he himself has volunteered to go back for another tour.
    Mr. Winterbottom: In view of the conditions on Christmas Island and the grave anxiety felt by many of the parents of boys now serving there, I beg to give notice that I shall raise this matter on the Adjournment at the earliest opportunity.

    United States Aircraft, United Kingdom
    Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Air why, on 19th January, eight more United States aircraft with nuclear carrying capacity were added to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation air forces in Great Britain.
    Mr. Ward: The B.66 aircraft which recently arrived at Sculthorpe replace a similar number of other bombers as part of a normal programme of re-equipment.
    Mr. Allaun: Has the Minister been given an assurance that these planes will not carry hydrogen bombs on patrol? Secondly, does not every additional plane of this type in Britain increase the danger of a physical or military accident at a time when hopes are centred on peace talks?
    Mr. Ward: I have pointed out in my Answer that these are not additional aircraft but are replacements.

    Personal Case
    Mr. Tomneyasked the Secretary of State for Air what was the purpose of the visit of the Royal Air Force police to the home of 5012857 Leading Aircraftman T. A. Davis, stationed at Wharton.
    Mr. Ward: The airman had been absent without leave for six days. He returned to his unit on 19th November, but, unfortunately, there was delay in informing the police district headquarters to which he had been reported as an absentee. Two policemen, in civilian clothes, called at his home on 24th November. I regret that this should have occurred, but I am looking into the methods of informing police districts of an absentee's return.
    Mr. Tomney: Is the Minister aware that great distress was caused to this man's family by the S.I.B. visiting them in the early hours of the morning and that, during the interview, the S.I.B. obtained the addresses of personal friends of the airman and proceeded to make inquiries, also getting these people out of bed? Does the right hon. Gentleman not think it is about time that these Gestapo methods of the S.I.B. ceased?
    Secondly, is he aware that, on their making further inquiries at the station, the parents were informed that there were no records of the man ever being stationed at that particular station and that, during the whole time that the S.I.B. was searching for the man up and down London, the man was already confined to barracks? Does he not think that this is a hell of a way to run an air force?
    Mr. Ward: There are several points there. I have already expressed my regret that the Service police should have called at this airman's home after he had already returned to duty, and I have
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    already said that I am looking into methods whereby the return of absentees may be more quickly reported. But let us be quite clear that none of this need have happened if the airman had not been an absentee. We do all we can in these cases to avoid embarrassment to the parents. For this reason, the policemen were in civilian clothes and their car carried a civilian registration number. I am told that they were very cordially received by the man's parents.

    Aircraft (Nuclear Weapons)
    Mr. Chetwyndasked the Secretary of State for Air what instructions have been given to crews of aeroplanes carrying hydrogen or atom bombs in case of emergency involving the danger of crashing.
    Mr. Ward: On the infrequent occasions referred to yesterday by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence in his reply to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Hall) aircrew are given comprehensive instructions about action to be taken in emergency.
    Mr. Chetwynd: Would it not dispel some of the anxiety if details of those instructions could be given so that people could know that in the rare event of an accident they would have the maximum of protection?
    Mr. Ward: These are verbal instructions which would vary with the nature of the flight.
    Mr. de Freitasasked the Secretary of State for Air why the latest edition of his Department's publication entitled "Rescue from Crashed Aircraft" does not give instructions for dealing with nuclear weapons carried in aircraft.
    Mr. Ward: I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given him yesterday by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary.
    Mr. de Freitas: Is the Secretary of State aware that many people found that reply most unsatisfactory? Surely, the Service and civilian first-aid and civil defence authorities must be told what they should do in the event of a crashed aircraft and a rescue from it.
    Mr. Ward: There are already comprehensive instructions dealing with crashed

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    aircraft generally, and these are kept under review and amended from time to time in the light of developments.
    Mr. de Freitas: Is it not the fact that there is no instruction which covers an aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon?
    Mr. Ward: As the hon. Member was informed yesterday, in view of the slight nature of the radiation risk, it has not been considered necessary to issue any special instructions.

    R.A.F. Stations (Closures)
    Mr. C. Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Air how many Royal Air Force stations were closed in 1957; and how many will be closed in 1958.
    Mr. Ward: Thirty-six stations of all types closed during 1957. I cannot at present give a comprehensive figure for 1958, but the number will certainly be smaller.
    Mr. Hughes: Will the Secretary of State make sure that ample notice is given to the local authorities in the area of the intention to close these stations, and also, in view of civilian redundancies, give notice to the Ministry of Labour?
    Mr. Ward: Yes, certainly. We recognise the need to give the people affected as much notice as we possibly can, and we are doing so. It would be wrong to create uncertainty by announcing plans before they were absolutely firm, but as soon as they are firm, we shall, of course, announce them.

    Rocket Sites and Missile Bases (Scotland)
    Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Air what airfields in Scotland have been surveyed for the purpose of using them for new rocket and missile bases.
    Mr. Ward: None, Sir.
    Mr. Hughes: Does that mean that there need be no more anxiety in Scotland about the possibility of missile bases and that the public opinion which has been already expressed has had its effect on the Air Ministry?
    Mr. Ward: All it means is that we have not yet surveyed airfields in Scotland.
    Mr. Emrys Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Air if, before
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    coming to any decision on the establishment of rocket bases in Scotland, he will give consideration to the objections made to him by the Scottish Trades Union Congress.
    Mr. Ward: I will certainly consider any representations made to me, but as the hon. Member knows from the reply given to him by my right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence on 22nd January, the location of rocket sites will be determined in accordance with operational considerations.
    Mr. Hughes: Could the Minister give some assurance that Scotland is not to be the priority target?
    Mr. Ward: I hope that none of us will be priority targets.

  TRANSPORT

    Car Delivery Vehicles (Licences)
    Miss Burtonasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware that owners of vehicles which are plying for hire must be covered by A or B licences while car delivery agents doing so are allowed to operate on a C licence; and what steps he proposes to take to deal with this anomaly.
    The Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. Harold Watkinson): I think the hon. Lady may have in mind the operation of car delivery vehicles under general trade licences, when carriers' A or B licences are not required. There is a possible anomaly here, which I am looking into. I will write to the hon. Lady when my inquiries are complete.
    Miss Burton: Is the Minister aware how pleased I am by that wholly unexpected reply? Does he realise that the unions and the industry feel very strongly about this anomaly and that I hope he may be able to give the answer as soon as possible?

    Station Taxicab Ranks
    Mr. Brockwayasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he has now received reports from the transport consultative committees for England, Wales and Scotland on the proposal that the privilege system at station taxi-cab ranks should be ended.
    Mr. Watkinson: No, Sir. I understand that it will be some time before the committees can complete the extensive inquiries which they are making into this system.
    Mr. Brockway: Is the Minister aware of the impatience among taxi drivers in very many of our towns? Is he aware that unless some just settlement of this issue is made quickly there may be a great danger of an extension of the defiance of the law which has already taken place in many places?
    Mr. Watkinson: I am also aware that on 18th December the hon. Gentleman gave evidence to the Committee, asking it to make inquiries at ten other stations, which, I am sure, is quite right. There is a great deal of work to be done, and the Committee must be allowed to carry out its task in a thorough and practical way, which is what it is doing.

    New Car Deliveries (Driving Speeds)
    Miss Burtonasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware of the danger to road safety measures caused by excessive speeding of new cars on delivery from the factory; what reports he has received on this matter; and if he will make a statement.
    The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. G. R. H. Nugent): We have received no reports on this subject. If the hon. Lady can send me detailed information, I shall be willing to consider it.
    Miss Burton: While thanking the Parliamentary Secretary for that reply, may I ask if his attention has been called to an article in the Oxford Mail on 13th January, where a car driver said that a speed of 50—and 60—miles an hour was normal with these new cars? If I Send him those details, will he look into the matter?
    Mr. Nugent: No, my attention has not been called to that article, but the speed of driving of these new cars is rather a matter for the manufacturers. Unless some speed limit had been disobeyed, it really is not a matter for me.
    Mr. Gresham Cooke: Is my hon. Friend aware that manufacturers have at present no evidence of the over-driving alleged by the hon. Lady opposite, and that although these cars are run on very
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    visible trade plates and members of the public can report the drivers for overdriving—and have done so in the past—there have been no reports recently of over-driving?
    Miss Burton: Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware, as I hope the hon. Member for Twickenham (Mr. Gresham Cooke) will be aware, that the unions in Coventry have just concluded an agreement with the manufacturers to sweep away these disreputable practices?

    Bristol Commercial Vehicles Company
    Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he is aware of the growing redundancy in the Bristol Commercial Vehicles Company, which is precluded from contracting for work other than Government work, while others can contract for Government work in addition to other work; and, as this restriction is a contributing factor to the present redundancy, if he will take steps to remove this restriction and give the company a fair opportunity in the competitive market.
    Mr. Watkinson: There is some redundancy at this works, but I understand that a considerable number of the men involved have already found alternative employment. The restrictions to which the hon. Member refers are, of course, contained in the Transport Act, 1947, and I have no power to remove them.
    Mr. Awbery: Could the Minister do something to remove the restrictions? Inquiries are reaching this company from abroad for the purchase of their goods, but it cannot bid in the market because there is a restriction under the Act; so will he remove the restriction?
    Mr. Watkinson: No, Sir, in this instance I am prepared to rest on the 1947 Act.
    Mr. Gresham Cooke: Have not the Bristol Commercial Vehicles Company and Eastern Coach Works been in a privileged monopoly position for ten years under the 1947 Act? Is it not true that they alone have been able to get orders from the nationalised concerns? Would not the real answer to the problems of the Bristol Commercial Vehicles Company be that this company and Eastern Coach Works should now be denationalised?
    Mr. Ernest Davies: It may be that the Minister has no power at the moment to change the provisions of the 1947 Act, although that could be done by legislation. Does he not recall that it was his right hon. and hon. Friends who pressed for the insertion of these restrictions to the 1947 Act, and that far from the concern having a monopoly, there are restrictions on the number of vehicles which can be manufactured in these factories, both in the case of the two referred to and in the case of Pickfords' works at Enfield?
    Mr. Watkinson: There are obviously divergent views about this factory on both sides of the House. I think that this House has quite enough legislation before it, and I do not propose to add to that.

    Public Service Vehicles (Regulations)
    Mr. Vaneasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when he intends to publish the amendments to the Regulations for public service vehicles in order to extend their application to certain vehicles of utility type and low seating capacity.
    Mr. Watkinson: I have decided to relax the Conditions of Fitness Regulations for vehicles with not more than twelve seats on the lines proposed in the circular letter issued on 24th May last. The necessary changes in the revised consolidated Regulations are now being made, and I hope to issue them next month.
    Mr. Vane: Will my right hon. Friend do all he can to ensure that there is no more delay? This has been under consideration for about eighteen months, and it would be a good thing if the Ministry of Transport would move more rapidly in a worth-while job.
    Mr. Watkinson: I have just said to my hon. Friend that there will be no more delay. The delay which has taken place is due to the fact that, if we are to get this right, we must obviously have long consultations with the motor trade.

    Road Accidents
    Mr. Sharplesasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to what extent the parking of cars without lights has been a significant cause of traffic accidents in fog.
    Mr. Nugent: An analysis of accidents in fog during November and December, 1957, is now being made, and I will write to my hon. Friend when it is finished.
    Mr. Sharples: I thank my hon. Friend for his reply. Will he undertake to keep the matter under review and, if necessary, introduce regulations.
    Mr. Nugent: We will see what comes from the analysis.

    Special A Licences
    Mr. Ernest Daviesasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will arrange that A special licences, issued in respect of former British Road Services operated vehicles, are not automatically renewed on their expiry, but that their holders may be entitled to apply for ordinary A licences, and, where they do so, will be subject to the procedure applicable to those making an initial application for such licences.
    Mr. Watkinson: When special A licences expire applications for ordinary A licences to replace them must be dealt with under the provisions of the Road and Rail Traffic Act, 1933. In this matter holders of special and ordinary A licences are in the same position.
    Mr. Davies: In view of the fact that a large number of A special licences and their vehicles have been transferred since they were sold from the British Road Services fleet, and therefore are operating in areas far away from their original bases, contrary to the 1953 Act, will the Minister see that these facts and any illegal operation are taken into consideration when applications are made for new licences?
    Mr. Watkinson: I have stated the position clearly. It makes it quite plain that special A licences and ordinary A licences are dealt with in exactly the same manner.

  ROADS

    Watford By-pass (Roundabout)
    Mr. Russellasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation when work is to begin on building the roundabout

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    planned for the junction of the Aldenham—Bushey road with the Watford Bypass at Cox's Corner.
    Mr. Nugent: Early in March.

    Road Junction, Stanmore
    Mr. Russellasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation if he will have traffic signals installed at the junction of London Road, Stanmore, with Marsh Lane and Lennis Lane.
    Mr. Nugent: No, Sir: neither the layout nor the traffic distribution makes this junction suitable for traffic lights.
    Mr. Russell: Can my hon. Friend say what he proposes to do there? Is there to be a roundabout? If so, what are the prospects of having the work started early?
    Mr. Nugent: No, Sir, I do not think the traffic would justify a roundabout there. I think the crossing and turning traffic, particularly into Marsh Lane, can manage well enough as it is now.

    Allesley—Meriden Road (A.45)
    Mr. Edelmanasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether his attention has been drawn to the dangers incurred by workers at the Triumph Company's works when leaving work on the A.45 road between Allesley and Meriden; and what action he is taking in order to improve the safety conditions of the road.
    Mr. Nugent: Yes, Sir. Conditions on this length of road will be greatly improved when the road works now in progress are completed. As a temporary measure, suitable warning notices have been erected.
    Mr. Edelman: While thanking the hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask whether he will bear in mind that 47 people were killed or injured on this stretch of road during the last year and that during December more people were killed on the roads in the Coventry area than in any month in the ten previous years? Whilst I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the emergency measures he has taken, may I ask whether he will take special and extraordinary measures in this area which has caused the greatest concern in the whole district?
    Mr. Nugent: I am aware that there is a bad accident record on this road, and that is why we are now pushing on with the road works.

    Tyne Tunnel
    Mr. Willeyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will now state when work will be commenced on the Tyne Tunnel.
    Mr. Watkinson: I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) on 18th December.
    Mr. Willey: Is it necessary for me to tell the right hon. Gentleman that that reply is thoroughly unsatisfactory to everyone on the North-East Coast? Would he at any rate undertake to meet representatives of the Tyne Tunnel Committee to see what work could be profitably undertaken?
    Mr. Watkinson: I am always willing to do what I can to help, but as I have explained before, within the scope of the road programme, which is going on well, there are some very large engineering projects, of which the Tyne Tunnel is one, which really need some special consideration, not only from the point of view of what we are doing here at home, but also from the point of view of the load it puts on the civil engineering industry in relation to exports. As soon as we have completed this consideration, which I hope will be quite soon, we shall be in a better position to see how we stand.

    Road Signs (Report)
    Mr. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will widen the terms of reference of the Committee on Road Signs to include consideration of all road signs, and not only road signs on new motor roads.
    Mr. Nugent: No, Sir. The immediate task is to consider what signs should be provided for the new motor roads, and we should prefer to await the Committee's recommendations before considering whether a more general review is justified.
    Mr. Langford-Holt: In expressing my regret at that answer, may I ask whether my hon. Friend can explain what the Minister meant when he said on 24th October that he had decided to set up a

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    new committee to advise him on traffic signs required for motor roads and to review road signs generally?
    Mr. Nugent: This Committee is bound to consider to some extent the design of existing road signs when it is deciding what is suitable for the motor roads.

    Lombard Street
    Mr. Langford-Holtasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation why Lombard Street has not been made a one-way street.
    Mr. Nugent: We have not made Lombard Street a one-way street because the resulting traffic difficulties in neighbouring streets would outweigh any advantages in Lombard Street itself.
    Mr. Langford-Holt: Should my hon. Friend therefore not consider providing for unilateral parking, or are we to be committed indefinitely to daily traffic jams?
    Mr. Nugent: This is a difficult, narrow street. I am afraid there is no simple solution.
    Mr. D. Jones: Would the hon. Gentleman not agree that with Bank Rate at 7 per cent. Lombard Street is a one-way street?

    Cromwell Road Extension
    Mr. Grimondasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation why, contrary to the declared policy of his Department, perpendicular kerbs are being laid along the Cromwell Road Extension main road to the west, even where there is no pavement.
    Mr. Watkinson: As footpaths are being provided on both sides of this road for the whole of its length, vertical kerbs are a necessary safeguard. This is not contrary to the policy I have announced for the use of kerbing in rural areas.
    Mr. Grimond: Is the Minister aware that there are no pavements along the division in the middle of this road? As his Department has said that it is opposed to perpendicular kerbs, cannot he arrange for sloping kerbs to be erected where there are no pavements, as the perpendicular kerbs are dangerous?
    Mr. Watkinson: I do not think that that is the answer at all. A vertical kerb is used as a safety precaution on the edge of a road to stop cars getting on to the pavement rather than to encourage them to do so, as would happen if a kerb of that kind were provided.

    Improvements, Dartford
    Mr. Sydney Irvingasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how long the road improvements on the A.2 within the Dartford borough boundary will take to complete; and what landscaping and planting he proposes to carry out in this area.
    Mr. Nugent: I hope that the improvements at Heath Lane Junction will be completed in the next few months. To the east of the junction and on the north side of the road, a privet hedge has been planted and we intend to replace the existing diseased poplar trees there by replanting.
    Mr. Irving: While thanking the hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask whether he is aware that the unkempt appearance of this road has for long been no credit to his Department, and that merely replacing a few poplar trees and one hedge will not do anything to improve the situation? Will he look at the mater?
    Mr. Nugent: I think that this will greatly improve the situation. On the south side, we are not proceeding with planting because in due course it is intended to have a second carriageway.

    Dartford-Purfleet Tunnel
    Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what progress has been made in the construction of the Dartford-Purfleet Tunnel; when the work is likely to be completed; and what alterations have been made in respect of the proposed toll charges.
    Mr. Nugent: Tunnelling is progressing from both sides of the river, and the shields have been driven for about 180 yards. The work is up to schedule and should be completed in 1962. The maximum tolls prescribed in 1937 were increased threefold by the Dartford Tunnel Act, 1957, but the actual tolls will not be fixed until just before the tunnel is completed.
    Mr. Dodds: Whilst, like my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Mr. Sydney Irving), thanking the Minister for his statement, may I ask whether he will bear in mind that there is deep concern at the toll charges which are being proposed? Is he aware that it is felt that by the time the tunnel is open it will be a costly business to go through it? If the tunnel is to help industry in the way that has been suggested, will the hon. Gentleman see that this aspect is considered and the charges kept down to a minimum?
    Mr. Nugent: I think there have been rumours and reports of far greater increases than have taken place. The increase in the cost of the work—a job which will cost £11 million—is only £500,000 over two years, and not the very much larger figure mentioned in the Press. We shall certainly have well in mind the necessity to keep these tolls at a reasonable level.

    A.35–A.36 Junction (Fly-over)
    Mr. D. Priceasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he can yet say when it is intended to build a fly-over at the junction of A.35 and A.36 lying between Totton and Millbrook, in view of the dangerous nature of this crossing and the increasing volume of traffic leading to a high accident rate.
    Mr. Nugent: No, Sir. Analysis of traffic counts has taken longer than expected, but I hope we shall be able to reach a decision shortly on the best way to deal with this junction.
    Mr. Price: Is my hon. Friend aware that this junction is not only inefficient but could not be designed more dangerously if all the engineers in my hon. Friend's Department put their minds to it? This matter has dragged on for a long time and has been causing considerable concern lately, not only to pedestrians and motorists but also to industry.
    Mr. Nugent: Yes, I know the junction needs to be improved, and we hope shortly to decide what that improvement should be.
    Dr. King: Will the Minister bear in mind that this is a fork on one of the most heavily used roads in the South, and will he treat this matter as one of urgency?
    Mr. Nugent: I have tried to make it plain that we hope to decide shortly on the right solution. After all, we shall have to decide on the priorities of the work to be done.

    Parking Meters
    Mr. Woodburnasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is prepared to have comparative experiments to determine the merits of parking meters over the employment of parking attendants collecting fees.
    Mr. Watkinson: Under the Road Traffic Act, 1956, responsibility for proposing schemes for charging for parking on the highway rests with the local authorities. I am prepared to consider schemes of either kind.
    Mr. Woodburn: Is the Minister aware that it is a frightful prospect to envisage many of our beautiful towns cluttered up by parking meters in all the streets? Would it not be much more advisable to adopt the more flexible method of giving employment to people who would otherwise not be capable of finding occupation in their own work?
    Mr. Watkinson: I do not quite agree with the first part of that supplementary question, but I would be willing to examine schemes put forward for any type of parking, because I am more worried about seeing our beautiful streets' cluttered up with cars parked three deep.

    Cowbridge Road, Cardiff (Lighting)
    Mr. G. Thomasasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he is aware of the inadequate street lighting in Cowbridge Road, Cardiff; and, in view of the heavy toll of accidents in this road, whether he will give priority this matter.
    Mr. Nugent: The lighting of this road is the responsibility of the Cardiff City Corporation.
    Mr. Thomas: That may well be, but it is still inadequate. Is the Minister aware that his Department needs to probe someone into activity, because it is a veritable nightmare for motorists travelling along this important road, on which there is a consistently heavy toll of accidents?
    Mr. Nugent: I hope the hon. Gentleman will use his influence with the City Corporation.

    Westminster Parking Scheme
    Mr. Ernest Daviesasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what action he proposes to take on the Westminster parking scheme which has been the subject of public inquiry.
    Mr. Watkinson: As required by the Road Traffic Act, 1956, I have referred the scheme and the formal objections to it, together with the report of the public inquiry to the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee. I expect to receive their report by the end of this week.
    Mr. Davies: Is not this another matter where it is regrettable that there is such long delay? It is now nearly two years since the Road Traffic Act received the Royal Assent, and this scheme was put forward over a year ago. Will the Minister see whether he cannot speed the procedure for bringing the parking schemes into effect, in view of the growing difficulties and traffic congestion in London?
    Mr. Watkinson: I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman on this matter. There has been very long delay, which I much regret. On the other hand, it is right that frontagers and other people interested should have the constitutional right of putting their case before a public inquiry. That has been one of the main reasons for the delay, but I hope to have the report at the end of this week and I hope the House will agree that I shall then act on it.

  RAILWAYS

    Accidents (Road Vehicles)
    Mr. Pageasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what are his conclusions from investigation into the collision between the Manchester—Euston express and a lorry on 5th November, 1957; whether he is now investigating three subsequent incidents of vehicles running down embankments and on to railway lines, namely, at Maesycwmmer, Monmouthshire, on 18th December, 1957, at White Hill, Wylye, Wiltshire, on 20th December, 1957, and at Rabbits Bridge Road, Ilford, on 6th January, 1958; and what proposals he has for preventing such accidents.
    Mr. Watkinson: Following investigations at the site of the first accident referred to, at Kilsby, Northamptonshire, arrangements have been made to provide special "Black Spot" warning signs, which will be erected as soon as the manufacturers deliver them. It has also been decided to erect substantial guard fenders on the bridge approaches, to prevent vehicles out of control from falling into the railway cutting. I am planning to supersede this section of trunk road A.5 as the main through traffic route by constructing in the next two or three years a short extension of the London—Birmingham Motorway from the Watford Gap to Crick. The three incidents at other sites are being investigated to deter mine whether additional protective measures are necessary.
    Mr. Page: While thanking my right hon. Friend for that satisfactory reply relating to the first part of my Question, may I ask if he is aware that this type of accident—cars and lorries running down railway embankments on to the railway line—is on the increase and that, since this Question was tabled, two more such accidents have been reported in the newspapers in addition to the three mentioned in the Question? Will my right hon. Friend treat these as railway accidents into which public inquiry is made, rather than as road accidents in respect of which his Department obstinately refuses to hold any public inquiry?
    Mr. Watkinson: No, I cannot agree to that. I have said that we will look carefully into these incidents, and if my hon. Friend likes to give me any more particulars I will have them looked at, too.

    Automatic Warning Control
    Sir F. Medlicottasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation for how long the question of extending to other railway regions the automatic warning system of the Western Region has been under consideration.
    Mr. Watkinson: The standardisation of the Great Western system of automatic warning control was fully considered by the British Transport Commission when it decided in 1948 that warning control should be widely extended, but it was not found suitable for electrified lines. The

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    Commission then decided to develop an improved system, which after extensive trials I approved at the end of 1956. Since then the Commission has been engaged in the preliminary work for its introduction on all the main routes.
    Sir F. Medlicott: Would my right hon. Friend recall that he gave a somewhat similar answer to me over two years ago? Is not this a matter of the utmost urgency?
    Mr. Watkinson: I think that the answer I gave my hon. Friend at that time was that I had just approved that we should press on with this system as a proper system of A.T.C. for British Railways. Since then work has started on well over 1,000 miles of control equipment, and installation will go forward as quickly as possible.

    Area Boards (Salaries)
    Mr. Ernest Daviesasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether, under the powers conferred upon him by Section 94 of the Transport Act, 1947, he will require the British Transport Commission to include in its annual accounts the emoluments of the chairmen, vice-chairmen, and members, respectively, of the railway area boards.
    Mr. Watkinson: No, Sir. Under the railway re-organisation Scheme which was authorised by Parliament in 1954, the B.T.C. was made wholly responsible for appointing members of the area boards and for determining their remuneration. These boards are thus in a quite different category from area public boards whose members are appointed by the responsible Minister and whose salaries and allowances are published periodically by the Government. The Commission is in line with public companies by publishing in its annual accounts the total amount paid in fees to members of area boards, which in 1956 was just under £20,000. This figure relates to 40 members of area boards who had served the Commission in a part-time capacity for all or part of the year.
    Mr. Davies: Yes, but why is the Minister and the Commission so secretive about this? The views expressed in the House at Question Time last week indicated that hon. Members felt they
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    had the right to know the fees the members of these boards were receiving. Is it not most unfortunate that at this time when there is an attempted restriction on increases in the wages of railwaymen the members of these boards should have their fees doubled, as is believed by the men in the industry to be the case? Can the Minister state whether these fees have been doubled within the last few months?
    Mr. Watkinson: Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will put down a Question. The figures I have quoted show clearly that the average remuneration is £500 a year, which, on a part-time basis, is the lowest of any of the nationalised industries.
    Mr. Shinwell: In view of the fact that from time to time the British Transport Commission discloses the wages and the salaries of lower-paid workers in the transport industry, why should there be so much secrecy about the salaries paid to these people? What is the reason for it?
    Mr. Watkinson: There is a whole range of salaries and incomes which are not disclosed, and quite properly so.
    Mr. Davies: Is not the Minister, perhaps unintentionally, misleading the House when he suggests that the figures in the Report of the B.T.C. show that the members receive only about £500 a year? Is it not the fact that these figures relate to the year 1956 and that the accounts for 1957 have not yet been published? Is it not a fact that there has been a change since 1956?
    Mr. Watkinson: As I said, if the hon. Gentleman will put down a Question about that I will answer it. The figures I gave are based on the answer to a supplementary question last week and are quite correct.

  CIVIL AVIATION

    Scheduled Flights (Diversions and Interruptions)
    Mr. Edelmanasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation in what circumstances, other than for operational reasons, he authorises diversions or interruptions of scheduled flights in aircraft under his control.
    Mr. Watkinson: None, Sir; these matters are wholly within the discretion of the airline concerned.
    Mr. Edelman: Is it not the fact that, in the case of at least one authority operating under the Minister, there has been a diversion of a flight for a non-operational reason, and as the good name of British civil aviation depends on the reliability and punctuality of scheduled flights, will he give instructions to the authorities operating under him that no flight will be diverted except for operational reasons, or for reasons of the highest public interest?
    Mr. Watkinson: Perhaps it will help the House if I say that British European Airways—which, I think, is the main airline concerned—tries to be as helpful as possible to hon. Members of this House—and, indeed, to other persons who have some very urgent business; but the Corporation does not normally divert services for them, and I must make it plain that it is not under any statutory obligation to do so.

    London Airport—Central London (Monorail Link)
    Sir F. Medlicottasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation to what extent he is examining the possible use of monorails between London Airport and Central London and also in other congested areas; and if he will make a statement.
    Mr. Watkinson: So far as London Airport is concerned, I have nothing to add to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member for Feltham (Mr. Hunter) last week. I will certainly consider other proposals for the use of monorails, but I have not received any so far.
    Sir F. Medlicott: Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are immense possibilities in this system in a congested country like ours for saving both time and money? Could he give it some real priority in his consideration?
    Mr. Watkinson: I have already done that.
    Mr. Woodburn: Would the right hon. Gentleman consider providing some form of quicker transport from the nearest underground station? The underground provides a very quick form of transport
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    from London and it would be much more economical, as a short-term policy, to provide some efficient form of transport from the nearest underground station.
    Mr. Watkinson: I will look at what the right hon. Member has said.
    Mr. Liptonasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how much it will cost to construct a monorail between London Airport and central London.
    The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation (Mr. Airey Neave): Costs cannot be estimated until a scheme has been worked out.
    Mr. Lipton: Does that mean that in the traditions of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation we shall have to wait several years before any rapid, non-stop communication will be provided between London Airport and Central London? Is it not beginning to appear that the monorail system is likely to prove the cheapest and quickest method of communication?
    Mr. Neave: What the hon. Gentleman says is not in the tradition of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, and never has been. In the debate on the Airways Corporations on 27th January, my right hon. Friend said:
    "We are examining the fascinating project of a monorail, but I cannot give any views about that until the Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways has pronounced on whether he feels that it is a safe form of passenger carrying at the very high speeds which we shall require."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 27th January, 1958; Vol. 581, c. 42.]
    Therefore, the economics of that will have to be worked out later.
    Mr. D. Jones: About a year ago, the right hon. Gentleman told me that he was referring the technical reports on a rail link between Victoria and London Airport to the British Transport Commission. Can the hon. Gentleman say whether anything has come out of the consideration of the B.T.C.?
    Mr. Neave: If the hon. Member is referring to a rail link as distinct from the monorail, we have just received a report and we are examining it.

    Charter Flights
    Mr. Straussasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will state the number of charter flights, other than those authorised by the Air Transport Advisory Council, for holiday purposes in 1957, and the number of passengers carried by them; and whether, in order to avoid irregularities, he will consider referring any application by an organisation for two or more similar flights to the Advisory Council.
    Mr. Watkinson: No separate statistics are available of particular classes of charter flights, nor are United Kingdom operators required to obtain my permission for such flights.
    Mr. Strauss: But is the Minister aware that it is alleged that a number of travel agencies, who have had their applications for charter flights turned down by the A.T.A.C., in fact carry out those flights through some club which they either form themselves or with which they are associated, and that therefore the review of the A.T.A.C. is avoided? Will the Minister look into that point and consider some evidence which can be put before him to show that these irregularities are going on?
    Mr. Watkinson: Yes, Sir. If the right hon. Gentleman has some facts which he would like to give me, I will look at them with great care.

    Foreign Currency (Exchange)
    Mr. Teelingasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation whether he will give a general direction to the British European Airways Corporation to ensure that all its officials who are called upon to accept Commonwealth currency for services whose value is computed in sterling observe the current rate of exchange.
    Mr. Neave: No, Sir, this is a matter of commercial management and is not a suitable subject for a general direction.
    Mr. Teeling: Does my hon. Friend realise that when people arrive at London Airport, unlike most airports abroad, there is no indication as to where they can change money, especially if it is after hours? Is he further aware that only last week, when I was returning on a B.E.A. bus to London, a gentleman
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    tendered a Maltese pound note and was informed by the B.E.A. official that he was only allowed to give 17s. 6d. for it, and that in the previous week he had been allowed to give 19s. 6d.? Surely there should be some kind of official arrangement in respect of money tendered, because most foreigners are unable to exchange their currency into English money at the last minute?
    Mr. Neave: I will look into the first point, that there is no place at London Airport where money can be exchanged easily. I should point out to the House that B.E.A. is bound by certain rules prescribed by the International Air Transport Association as to the rates of exchange. If there has been any divergence from those rates of exchange on the Malta route, I would like to receive more details.

  SHIPPING

    Sales and Registrations
    Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many of our discarded ships have been sold to companies flying flags of convenience during the past five years; and, in view of the unfair competition with our merchant navy of those who have tax-free and unregulated operations, if he will take steps by introducing legislation or otherwise to prevent our discarded vessels from being sold for transfer abroad.
    Mr. Watkinson: During the past five years, 180 merchant ships of 500 gross tons and over were transferred from the United Kingdom or colonial registers to registry in Liberia, Panama, Costa Rica or Honduras. On the second part of the Question, I would refer the hon. Member to the Answer given to the hon. and learned Member for Aberdeen, North (Mr. Hector Hughes) on 18th December, 1957.
    Mr. Awbery: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that it would be far cheaper for us to send these ships to the ship-breaking yard and use the scrap for rebuilding than sell the ships to people who are competing against us in an unfair market? At the same time, will the right hon. Gentleman make inquiries as to whether firms which operate from

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    the City of London purchase the ships and sail them under the flags of Panama and Costa Rica?
    Mr. Watkinson: The hon. Member would be interested if he made inquiries about this in the shipping industry, because if we deprive the British shipping industry of its foreign market for selling second-hand ships we deprive it of large sums of money applied to buying new ships.

    Laid-up Vessels
    Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation how many vessels are laid up in our ports and estuaries; how many of these are tankers; what tonnage they represent; and how the position today compares with the same period last year.
    Mr. Neave: According to the information available in my Department, there are 66 ships registered in the United Kingdom, amounting to 333,650 gross tons, which are now laid up in ports and estuaries of the United Kingdom. Of these, 24 are tankers, totalling 203,576 gross tons or 297,256 deadweight tons. In addition, there are 29 ships of foreign flags amounting to 183,705 gross tons; none of these are tankers. In January, 1957, four ships, all registered in the United Kingdom, totalling 9,800 gross tons, were laid up in the United King-dam. These figures exclude ships under repair.
    Mr. Awbery: Is the Minister aware that for eighteen years there have been very few ships laid up in our ports and estuaries, and that it is only during the last twelve months or so that the number has increased considerably? What is the use of calling for increased production for our export trade when our ships are lying up in our ports with nothing to do?
    Mr. Neave: I am sure the hon. Gentleman will share my hope that the decline in the past few months in the oil and dry cargo trade rates, which has a great deal to do with this, is a temporary one.

  AIRCRAFT (NUCLEAR WEAPONS)
  Mr. de Freitasasked the Prime Minister what special instructions in the rendering safe of unfused airborne nuclear weapons have been given to the
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  appropriate Service and civilian first-aid and civil defence units in areas of the country which are regularly flown over by Royal Air Force and United States aircraft carrying nuclear weapons.
  The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Lord Privy Seal (Mr. R. A. Butler): I have been asked to reply.
  I would refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave yesterday.
  Mr. de Freitas: Is the Home Secretary aware that it is because of the answer he gave yesterday that I kept this Question on the Order Paper? When the right hon. Gentleman makes a full statement covering the precautions and conditions under which nuclear weapons are carried, will he cover this point?
  Mr. Butler: Yes, Sir. I promised to give consideration to that matter. I notice that the difference between the Question yesterday and today is that today the Question refers to "unfused" weapons and yesterday it referred to "fused" weapons. I have noticed that and I am considering it.

  MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

    Local Overseas Allowance (Christmas Island and Germany)
    Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Minister of Defence if National Service men engaged at Christmas Island in the year ending July, 1957, will receive a local overseas allowance in view of the fact that those serving there subsequently now receive it.
    The Minister of Defence (Mr. Duncan Sandys): No, Sir. Local overseas allowance is payable only in places where the cost of living is higher than at home. This is not the case in Christmas Island, where life is simple and inexpensive. The reason why overseas allowance has now been introduced is to help our troops to avail themselves of the new leave scheme to Honolulu.
    Mr. Allaun: Were not such men, including Salford National Service men, deprived of the leave now granted to Honolulu, because of the shocking conditions on Christmas Island, and also of their allowance as well? Did not they

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    suffer the worst of both worlds, and will the Minister reconsider this considerable anomaly?
    Mr. Sandys: The men to whom the hon. Member refers are probably home again and enjoying conditions at home. The purpose of this allowance is to help men avail themselves of a holiday in Honolulu, which I understand is agreeable but expensive.
    Mr. Shinwell: How far will the overseas allowance provided for these men go in Honolulu?
    Mr. Sandys: I have never been to Honolulu, but I have seen pictures of hula-hula girls.
    Mr. Fernyhoughasked the Minister of Defence what would be the approximate cost of granting to single Service men stationed in Germany the overseas allowance now paid to married personnel who are unaccompanied.
    Mr. Sandys: About £2 million per annum.
    Mr. Fernyhough: The right hon. Gentleman has just said that the overseas allowance is paid wherever the cost of living is higher than at home. It is obvious that it must be higher in Germany because it has been admitted that we pay it to married personnel. Why does the right hon. Gentleman therefore withhold it from single personnel if, on his own admission, the cost of living is already higher in Germany than at home? Would not he agree that if he spent this £2 million in this way, that small amount would remedy a large number of grievances?
    Mr. Sandys: There is a procedure for estimating costs and deciding where overseas allowance should be paid. I cannot go into it in reply to a supplementary question. A full statement was made late last year on this subject. I understand the idea behind the question of the hon. Member, but I can think of quite a number of claims which I should regard as more urgent on which to spend £2 million.

    Expenditure
    Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Defence to what extent the current rate of defence expenditure is within the estimate given at the beginning of the financial year.
    Mr. Sandys: I expect that expenditure during the current year will be slightly in excess of Estimates. Supplementary Estimates for the Admiralty and Ministry of Supply will be presented to the House shortly.
    Mr. Swingler: Does not the Minister recall that when he was appointed he was boosted as the man who was to achieve drastic economies in expenditure? What has happened to that policy?
    Mr. Sandys: I do not know to what the hon. Member is referring. We achieved very big economies last year. The greater part of this excess is due to increased wages and prices over which the Service Departments have no control, and the hon. Member will find that the excess of defence expenditure over present Estimates looks like being about 2 per cent.

LONDON BUSMEN (WAGE APPLICATION)
Mr. Robens (by Private Notice)asked the Minister of Labour and National Service whether he will make a statement about his rejection of the proposal to set up a committee of inquiry in connection with the. London busmen's wage application.
The Minister of Labour and National Service (Mr. Iain Macleod): Yes, Sir. I first received a formal request for such a committee on 21st January in a letter from the Transport and General Workers' Union in which it was stated that the London Transport Executive did not dissent from this course. I considered this, and a reply was sent on 24th January in the terms of a letter which has since been made public.
This letter explained my inability to agree to the request and referred to the possibility of a more general inquiry into the wages situation in the whole of the road passenger transport industry, as well as to the fact that the normal process of arbitration still remains available for dealing with the London dispute.
On receipt of this letter the union asked for an interview with me and I saw them yesterday when I confirmed my decision and expressed the hope that the union would consider the alternatives set out in the letter.
Mr. Robens: Does the right hon. Gentleman appreciate the very dangerous industrial situation into which the country is now slowly drifting as a result of this decision by him and other decisions taken previously by the Government? Does he not also realise that he is making the task of responsible trade union officers, who wish to maintain industrial peace, well-nigh impossible?
Does he not appreciate that, when his chief conciliation officer, in an attempt at mediation, makes a proposal which is accepted by both sides, both sides then proceeding to make arrangements to carry out that proposal, and the right hon. Gentleman then rejects the very proposal which his chief conciliation officer has made, he debases the currency of the Ministry of Labour and weakens his chief conciliation officer's efforts not only in this but in every other industrial matter on which he is asked to mediate?
Is the right hon. Gentleman prepared to consider, once again, a formula far better than the one he has proposed in his statement, arbitration, which he himself destroyed by what he said in the House about railwaymen's wages? Unless he wants a direct conflict in industry, does he not think that it would be wise for him, at this stage, to call both sides together to have an informal talk about the whole situation and try to preserve peace? Is he not aware that if industrial war breaks out, the consequences, not only in this but in all other industries, will be disastrous for the nation? Is he not aware that he has responsibility?
Mr. Macleod: The right hon. Member has raised some important matters with which I will try to deal one by one. The first was the question whether this was the right thing to do. That is something which must be a matter of judgment and that judgment must be exercised by the Minister of Labour.
How this proposal emerged was made plain in a statement issued after the talks I had yesterday, that is to say, that at all these meetings a great number of proposals were discussed. This one, as a matter of fact, did not emanate in the first place from my Chief Industrial Commissioner. It was one of a number brought up. As he at all times made clear, because he is a very wise and experienced civil servant, the final decision in this roust be a matter for the Minister. It
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was in the light of those discussions that I took my final decision as soon as I could when the formal application came to me.
On the Question whether this is the right form of inquiry, I believe that we will not have a satisfactory settlement of this issue if we try to isolate one part of the case—and that is what the letter of 24th January, in the first place, points out. In the second place, it points to arbitration. The right hon. Gentleman said that I and the Government had destroyed the railwaymen's faith in arbitration. It is a very odd thing, in view of that, that today the railway unions have announced their intention to go to arbitration.
Mr. Robens: Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman is not aware that the railwaymen are prepared to go through the machinery but that that does not mean to say that they have any faith in the arbitration proposals at all. We are not out of the wood when we know beforehand that any decision by the arbitration tribunal is to be negatived by the Government, because the right hon. Gentleman has already said so in the House. The fact that the railwaymen have been prepared to go through the machinery is a clear indication that the trade union leaders are doing all they can to preserve industrial peace and that the right hon. Gentleman is doing nothing to help them.
Sir R. Grimston: Reverting to the bus dispute, is my right hon. Friend aware that there is much concern among the general fare-paying public about this continual leap-frogging of wage claims by provincial and London busmen, and that he will have considerable public support for insisting that any inquiry shall embrace the whole subject and not be confined to the London dispute?
Mr. Macleod: It is true that I have had that consideration very much in the forefront of my mind, as have many other people, including, at least at one stage in the discussions, the leaders of the unions themselves.
Mr. Collick: Is it not the case that the Minister's Chief Industrial Commissioner supported the proposal which the Minister himself has now rejected? Why has it been necessary for this matter to have consideration at Cabinet level? Is not

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the Minister aware that the Prime Minister himself told us in the House that, in the light of the new policy, it was not intended that all wage applications should have to be considered by the Government? Why, therefore, has that been done and why has this been regarded as an industrial problem quite distinct from the rest?
Mr. Macleod: No, it is not. It is not as the hon. Member suggests. The position is as I have made plain and, if I may say so, Sir Wilfred Neden also made plain to the Press, that at all times—and, of course, rightly—he reserved, and made it clear that he was reserving, the Minister's decision. Whatever view the House may take about whether I was right or wrong, no one, I hope, will assume that the Minister's decision in this case is a formality. He must examine it and make his judgment as he thinks best, and that is exactly what I have done.
Mr. Robens: The first Minister of Labour to do it.
Mr. Macleod: It would be kinder not to take up that interruption.
On the second question, I was asked, at the beginning of a very forthright talk that I had yesterday with Mr. Cousins, Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Townsend, whether this was my own decision or somebody else's. I replied in words which mean precisely what they say—although some people have read more into them than I meant—namely, that this was my own decision and my own responsibility, and I believe in it. But naturally, in an issue like this, one consults some of one's senior colleagues.
Mr. J. Griffiths: I should like to refer to the first sentence of the right hon. Gentleman's reply, in which he said that this request for a committee of inquiry which was put forward by the union carried with it the consent of the employers, or, at any rate, was not dissented from by them. May we therefore take it that this was a request from both sides of the industry to the Ministry of Labour to set up a committee of inquiry to deal with a specific dispute?
Am I not right in assuming that this is the first case in which the Ministry of Labour has taken up this attitude? Does not the right hon. Gentleman realise that
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when trade union leaders and employers, negotiating round a table, reach a stage where they cannot carry their negotiations any further, and have to consider what stops to take, they go to the Ministry of Labour and very often the suggestion of a committee of this kind comes from the Minister's officials, and is very often accepted by the men?
When the proposal is put forward by both sides and the Minister, with the support of the Government, rejects it, does the Minister realise that he is taking away from every trade union officer—and here I speak with experience—one of his strongest arguments for pleading with the men that constitutional steps should be taken? Does he not realise that what he is doing is to make certain of industrial trouble?
Mr. Macleod: The right hon. Gentleman has raised the very important point of precedents in this matter. As far as the approach is concerned, the position needs stating with some little care. It should not be assumed that it was a joint approach, in the sense that, as both the Press notices and the letter from the union made clear, it was an approach from the union from which the London Transport Executive did not dissent.
On the question of precedents, in most cases the suggestion that a court of inquiry should be set up comes from the Minister himself, and he invites the two sides to co-operate with him. There are certainly precedents for suggestions made to me for setting up a court of inquiry being rejected, the most recent example being the Covent Garden dispute. The precedents are quite clear. In this case, what the right hon. Gentleman forgets is that this proposal for a committee of investigation to report to the parties—as it finally emerged—is unprecedented, as far as I know, and as far as my Ministry know. It is, therefore, perfectly true that a refusal would be unprecedented; so, for that matter, would an acceptance.
Mr. Griffiths: I want to put this strongly: Does not the Minister agree—and I speak with some experience in this matter—that where both sides are agreeable to a certain procedure, for his Ministry to destroy it is to take away from them perhaps the only opportunity of a peaceful settlement? Therefore, the whole reputation and influence of the

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Ministry of Labour in the matter of instituting peaceful negotiation is seriously impaired by the action that he has taken.
Mr. Macleod: I gladly go as far as this with the right hon. Gentleman. It was a very serious decision of mine to turn down this suggestion for a committee of investigation. I knew that when I turned it down. If I may use in the House the words that I used to Mr. Cousins and Mr. Nicholas yesterday, one of the arguments that weighed most heavily in favour of adopting the procedure of a committee of investigation was the very hard and successful moderating work that Mr. Nicholas, in particular, put in, but I decided, in the exercise of my judgment, that it was not possible to take in isolation this part of what everybody knows is a much wider problem. I believe that the solution that I have put before the country is the wisest one.
Mr. D. Price: Will my right hon. Friend make it clear to the House that there are three and not two parties to this wage claim? There is the public, as well as the employers and the employees. Is not there a danger that those who work in industry may gang up to increase their earnings at the expense of the third party—the public?
Mr. McLeavy: Does the Minister appreciate that his decision to turn down the suggestion of an inquiry into the claims of London busmen will be interpreted by the men concerned as a political interference with what should have been the operation of a conciliatory policy through the Ministry of Labour? In view of the fact that the responsible trade union leaders of these men have taken every possible step to avoid a conflict and a strike, does the Minister think that he is acting in the best interests of peace in the industry by refusing what was agreed by both sides—an inquiry into this problem? Further, does not he agree that to try to extend the scope of inquiry is not in the best interests of all transport workers?
Mr. Macleod: I have taken what I believe to be the right decision in the interests of the people in the transport industry, among others. I think that this is the right answer. As for conciliation, it was clear—and I think that it was agreed between all parties at an early
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stage—that in view of the attitude of the London Transport Executive—which was a quite proper one for it to take—conciliation in the normal sense was not of any particular value. We therefore came down to the two issues of arbitration or some form of inquiry.
I have reminded those responsible that the arbitration provisions, whether for a compulsory or a voluntary arbitration, remain. As for the committee of inquiry, the real issue between Mr. Cousins and myself—I do not put this in a personal sense—is that I should consider this dispute by itself. I take the view that that would be an unreal thing to do, and that it is in the interests of everybody that the matter should be considered in a wider setting.
Several Hon. Members rose—
Mr. Speaker: Order. We have had a very good run on this Question.

BALLOT FOR NOTICES OF MOTIONS
  Teachers (Recruitment and Training)
  Mr. M. Stewart: I beg to give notice that on Friday, 14th February, I shall call attention to the recruitment and training of teachers, and move a Resolution.
  Road Transport
  Sir C. Taylor: I beg to give notice that on Friday, 14th February, I shall call attention to road accidents, road regulations and other matters connected with road transport, and move a Resolution.
  Schools and Colleges (Commonwealth History)
  Mr. Teeling: I beg to give notice that on Friday, 14th February, I shall call attention to the desirability of teaching Commonwealth history in schools and colleges in the United Kingdom, and move a Resolution.
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Proceedings on Government Business exempted, at this day's Sitting, from the provisions of Standing Order No. 1 (Sittings of the House).—[Mr. R. A. Butler.]

THERMAL INSULATION (DWELLINGS)
3.50 p.m.
Mr. Gerald Nabarro: I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision for the thermal insulation of dwellings, and for purposes connected therewith.
Twelve months ago to this day, leave was given by the House for the introduction of my Bill, which is the complement to my Motion today, for the thermal insulation of new factories and industrial buildings. That Bill made good progress and reached the Statute Book on 17th July last as the Thermal Insulation (Industrial Buildings) Act, 1957. Three years ago, I was privileged to bring to the House, as a Private Member's Measure, the Clean Air Bill, which subsequently reached the Statue Book in 1956. My purpose today is to achieve a trinity of fuel efficiency and conservation Measures by providing for the thermal insulation of all new dwelling-houses built in the United Kingdom after 1959.
Many of us may be deceived today, and the general public as well, by the extraordinarily large coal stocks on the surface, the largest stocks that we have had in this country at any time since the end of the war. I regard the presence of those stocks as a reflex of our failure to export any substantial quantities of coal during last year, and as deriving also from the fact that we have been blessed in the last year or two with exceptionally mild winters. The position could change very rapidly.
The fact is—and I believe that this is supported in every part of the House—that over the next few years we shall have a continuous shortage of energy resources. In capital investment terms, the means of providing the additional energy resources that we need is immensely expensive. This is not a party political issue. It is a problem of finding hundreds of millions of pounds each year for new capital investment for the nationalised fuel and power industries and for the new atomic energy industries.
I contend—it has been the first tenet of my belief in these matters—that it is far more productive and economic to invest money in securing greater efficiency in
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the use of our fuel and energy resources than in investment in the counterpart, that is, mining more coal and furnishing more energy resources. That is a view which was graphically underlined by the National Industrial Fuel Efficiency Service in its third Annual Report, published last year, and it was confirmed by the Economist, last December, in words similar to those I have uttered today.
We have not only to consider the continuing shortage of energy resources. We must also consider Government policy in this sphere during the last few years. I do not think that what I am advocating today—it is, in the longer term, legislation to give effect to the thermal insulation of dwellings—is in any way out of step with Government policy.
There has been in existence during the last few years what is known as a model byelaw which suggests to local authorities, should they adopt it, that they require a minimum standard of heat retention by thermal insulation in newly-built houses. Most local authorities subscribe to the model byelaw, but sadly the standards prescribed by the model byelaw are so pitifully low as to provide no real conservation of fuel and, in addition, no real raising of comfort standards in our homes.
I seek to replace this model byelaw, though it is largely supported by local authorities, by central Government legislation not affiecting existing houses, but requiring much higher standards of thermal insulation for all houses built after next year.
In this connection, it is instructive to consider what my right hon. Friend the Minister of Works—and he did not do it with an eye upon my Motion today—wrote in a Government publication entitled "Warmth Without Waste", Advisory Leaflet, No. 45. I hope that the House will bear with me for a moment while I read the opening paragraph, because it states the complete case for what I am seeking to achieve by my Motion today. The heading is:
"Building houses for comfort and fuel economy"
The paragraph reads:
"Every householder today wants a higher standard of warmth than ever before, but all fuels are becoming dearer and reserves of some are dwindling. No longer can the ordinary householder or the nation afford to keep poorly designed houses warm by extravagant use of

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fuel, Everyone responsible for planning or building new houses should always build for warmth. This need not be in any way difficult or expensive if the design and construction of the houses is properly thought out before building is started."
I should like to put this matter in its correct arithmetical perspective. Whichever political party forms the Government over, say, the next two decades, we shall probably average the construction of 250,000 new dwellings per annum. Over a 20-year period that is approximately 5 million new houses. Twenty years is not far to look ahead in this context, because we seek to build houses which will last in efficient form for a period of sixty years. I am looking only twenty years ahead.
On average, we use five tons of coal or coal equivalent per dwelling per annum in this country. That is borne out by the evidence of Sir Alfred Egerton's Committee, which issued a technical Report in 1946, and again by the Ridley Committee's Report, in 1952. Out of that five tons of coal or coal equivalent used per annum, about one ton is accounted for by cooking and lighting. The other four tons are used for space and water heating services, generally.
I claim—I shall not enunciate this afternoon all the reasons for my claim; that will be more appropriate to Second Reading if I can secure my Motion this afternoon—that at least 25 per cent. of the four tons will be saved by proper insulation of the house. There are technical agencies which claim that the saving would be as high as 50 per cent. I am putting forward the very modest figure of 25 per cent. saving. Thus, one ton of coal or coal equivalent would be saved per dwelling per annum in respect of all new house construction in future, if they are efficiently insulated against heat loss.
It follows that in the first year, with 250,000 houses built, the economy in fuel would be 250,000 tons. The saving would rise in arithmetical progression by that tonnage until, at the end of twenty years, it would reach 5 million tons economy in coal or coal equivalent per annum. worth, at today's price, a minimum of £40 million per annum, but, on the evidence of the leaflet from which I quoted
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and the prospect of still dearer fuel supplies, the economy might be even greater.
I wish to say, finally, a word upon thermal insulation costs. Only yesterday my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government issued a circular to all local authorities calling upon them for the greatest possible economy in financial expenditure during the next year. It may be felt, therefore, that what I am seeking to do today might add something to the capital cost of a new dwelling-house. I do not believe that that is a significant factor. Architects advise me that, provided that proper, efficient insulation is built into the structure of the dwelling during erection, the cost of the dwelling itself would be no higher, but even if it were added to the dwelling after completion it would cost no more than £8 to secure highly efficient thermal insulation in a council house with four bedrooms, costing, say, £1,600. That is an addition to the capital cost of one half of 1 per cent., or, say, 1¼d. in the £. Having regard to the large fuel economies which may be envisaged, that is a very worthwhile investment.
The Motion is propitious. The proposal would be scientific in application. It is progressive and objective. It has wide technical, professional and public support outside the House. If I am granted leave to bring in a Bill today, it will be supported in proportion to the strength of the main political parties in this House by six Tory Members in addition to myself and five Socialist Members.
Question put and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Nabarro, Mr. C. R. Hobson, Sir Lancelot Joynson-Hicks, Mr. Albu, Colonel Tufton Beamish, Mr. George Darling, Sir Albert Braithwaite, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Gilbert Longden, Mr. Philips Price, Mr. Russell, and Mr. Fort.
THERMAL INSULATION (DWELLINGS)
Bill to make provision for the thermal insulation of dwellings; and for purposes connected therewith; presented accordingly and read the First time; to be read a Second time upon Friday, 28th February, and to be printed. [Bill 61.]

ORDERS OF THE DAY

  CAYMAN ISLANDS AND TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS BILL
  Considered in Committee.
  [Sir CHARLES MACANDREW in the Chair]
  Clause 1 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

  CAYMAN ISLANDS AND TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS BILL

    Clause 2.—(PROVISIONS AS TO GOVERNMENT OF CAYMAN ISLANDS AND TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.)
    4.1 p.m.
    Mr. A. Fenner Brockway: I beg to move, in page 1, line 22, at the end to insert:
    "whose members are elected by adult suffrage".
    The purpose of this Clause is to provide that the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands shall have certain assemblies which will be able, to a limited degree, to legislate on behalf of those territories. At present, in the case of the Cayman Islands, where the population is less than 9,000, the administration is through a commissioner, justices of the peace and 27 elected vestrymen. Above that body, there are the powers of the Jamaican Government, which are very considerable indeed.
    In the case of the Turks and Caicos Islands, where the population is about 6,000, the administration is through a commissioner, three officials and eight persons nominated by the Governor of Jamaica, and here, also, the powers of the Jamaican Government are very considerable.
    The Clause seeks to extend certain autonomy in the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. When he introduced the Bill, the Under-Secretary was not able to give details of the alternative proposals, but he did say that it was suggested that the legislative bodies should consist of some ex-officio members, some nominated members and a number of members elected by universal adult suffrage.
    The purpose of my Amendment is to limit the membership of these bodies to persons elected by adult suffrage, and to remove from those bodies the membership of ex-officio officers and of nominated members. I should like to urge that course, because I very much doubt
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    whether it is necessary in islands with a total population of less than 10,000 to establish all the eleborate machinery of legislatures, with elected persons, officers, nominated persons, a commissioner and an executive council, and all the machinery which the Minister himself has described as rather formal and ponderous. In effect, the population of these two groups of islands is no larger than that of a small market town in this country. It really would be pressing the formal machinery very far if these elaborate legislatures are set up.
    In my view, this is a reason, not for limiting democracy in these islands, but for extending it. Why should there not be in both groups of islands directly elected persons who would have administrative authority there? Why should they not act in conjunction with the commissioners for these groups of islands, instead of being supplemented by officials, by nominated members, by executive councils and all the other suggestions that are made in this Bill?
    I want to make the plea that if there is to be democracy in these islands it is desirable that the members of the administrative authority should be as close to the people as possible, should be dealing with their daily problems by direct contact, and that the total membership of these bodies which are to be set up shall be elected members, as is proposed in this Amendment.
    The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. John Profumo): If no other hon. Members have any points to make on this Amendment, perhaps I may say a word or two to the Committee myself.
    I quite appreciate the point which the hon. Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway) has made in moving his Amendment, but if I may deal with its wording to start with I must say that it would not be practicable to write into the Bill a positive requirement for adult suffrage itself. Although the meaning of that expression is generally well understood, considerable elaboration of it is necessary when we come to translate it into precise terms of law.
    Matters of detail, such as length of residence, as well as such things as disqualifications for special reasons, and so on have to be provided for, and details of this sort, which must be liable to

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    variation as experience and circumstances show, could not be embodied in an Act of Parliament. It is for this reason that it has always been the custom that that should be enshrined in local electoral legislation, capable of amendment from time to time according to the wishes of the assembly.
    That is the intention in this case, but I want to give the Committee an undertaking that, whatever may have been the practice in the past in these territories, the new electoral laws, which would come into being following this Act being placed on the Statute Book, would provide for universal adult suffrage along the lines which I have described. I make that clear to the Committee because of the discussion we had on Second Reading, and I should perhaps also say that adult suffrage will apply to women to the same extent as to men.
    To come to the actual point of what the hon. Member is proposing, the effect of accepting the Amendment would be to exclude nominated members and ex-officio members from the legislative assembly. I must tell the Committee right away that the Government do not feel that they should accept such an Amendment. It is the intention that elected members shall have a majority in these assemblies. There will be a majority of elected members, but, in our opinion, nominated and ex-officio members do play a very valuable part in these small territories at this stage.
    I need not tell the hon. Member, who has been concerned with this matter far longer than I have, and whose experience is very wide indeed, that we are not departing from the custom in other Colonial Territories large and small, but, because I may have said on Second Reading that it might appear to be a rather top-heavy and cumbersome organisation, may I say I did so to point out that, in spite of that, Her Majesty's Government, in consultation with those in the territories concerned, believe that, however tiny these populations may be at this stage, and however remote, we should have in embryo the same sort of organisation which has worked for long periods of time in other Colonial Territories. I am convinced that ex-officio and nominated members will play no less a part in these territories than they have played in others.
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    I hope that I have been able to explain to the satisfaction of the hon. Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway) why we could not accept the Amendment as it stands, and the reason which makes it impossible for me to accept it from the point of view of general principle.
    Mr. James Callaghan: Although it is true, as the Under-Secretary of State has said, that the women in these islands have the same rights of suffrage as the men, in fact, by some local custom or practice, they do not exercise them. This is very retrograde. I am extremely surprised that the Chamber is not full of women Members today, making sure that their sex in the islands exercise the rights which have been so bitterly won in this country. Why do the women in these islands not exercise the vote?
    Mr. Profumo: That is an embarrassing question for me to try to answer. Quite frankly, I have not the foggiest idea. I must he absolutely honest. I have no idea why the ladies in the Cayman Islands do not do what the law allows them to do. They may have a little more trust in their menfolk than have the ladies in this country. There are no lady. Members in the Chamber at the moment. The men may have felt in the past that if their ladyfolk kept to their homes, raising families, and left the menfolk to look after politics, it might he much better for the Colony.
    If the ladies do not exercise their right to vote it will not be the fault of Her Majesty's Government. It is clear that the ladies will have the same rights as their menfolk. As time goes on, and the ladies there remark how successful women suffrage has been in this country, the position may alter.
    Mr. Brockway: If the women remain in the home and a large proportion of the men work in the Bahamas, I do not see that there can be many people left to look after the islands. That emphasises my point that we do not need the great elaborate structure proposed in the Bill Although I am not satisfied with the Under-Secretary of State's reply, I have ventilated this point of view, and I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.
    Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
    Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Mr. Brockway: On a point of order. May I call your attention, Sir Charles, to the Amendment to Clause 2 on the Notice Paper, in page 2, line 9, at the end to insert certain words?
    The Chairman: The Amendment is out of order because it would need a Money Resolution.
    Mr. Brockway: Was that fact conveyed to the Committee, Sir Charles? If so, I did not hear you do so.
    The Chairman: I very often do call attention to it, but I thought that the hon. Member would be aware that the Amendment was out of order because it would need a Money Resolution.
    Mr. Brockway: May I refer to the matter on the Motion for consideration of the Clause as a whole?
    The Chairman: We have passed that.
    Mr. Brockway: There was not only a genuine misunderstanding but a very understandable misunderstanding about the Amendment. No indication was given to me that it would not be called. I understand that it is the usual custom at the beginning of a Committee to say what Amendments will be and will not be called. I also did not appreciate that we had passed Clause 2.
    The Chairman: I sometimes give that indication for the convenience of the Committee, but I cannot select Amendments which are out of order, so the question of giving an indication does not arise. I did not call this Amendment, as it was out of order.
    4.15 p.m.

    Clause 3.—(POWER TO AUTHORISE MAKING OF EMERGENCY LAWS.)
    Mr. Brockway: I beg to move, in page 2, line 33, at the end to insert:
    "any such Order in Council shall be submitted for endorsement within ten days to the legislature to whom the authority making the emergency laws is normally responsible, as well as to the British Parliament within the same period until such time as the British Caribbean Federation becomes independent, and"
    The provisions of Clause 3 relate to the manner in which an emergency may be declared. This practice is customary in all Colonial Territories, but I would emphasise the serious departures from liberty and democracy which often
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    follow. The rights of speech, meeting and association are suspended, and the practice of deportation arises, all of which outrage the conceptions of liberty and democracy of which this country is proud.
    The Amendment proposes that when emergencies have been declared the legislative bodies shall have an opportunity at the earliest possible moment to discuss them and the actions taken under them, and to reject them or endorse them. I am encouraged in putting this Amendment down because the new, independent Government of Ghana has given us an example of democratic safeguards by providing that within ten days of the declaration of an emergency, it, and the actions taken under it, shall be brought to the notice of the Ghana Parliament, which shall have the right to endorse or to reject them. That is an excellent democratic principle, and I suggest that it is desirable to embody it in the Bill and make a similar safeguard effective in these two groups of islands.
    The Clause is a little vague because more than one authority may be involved. It may be the local administration, the Jamaican Government or the Caribbean Federation. Whatever be the appropriate authority, it should have the opportunity within ten days to review the emergency declaration.
    At the back of those bodies, until the British Caribbean Federation becomes independent, the responsibility will still rest with this House. Therefore, we add to the proposal that, in addition to the consideration of emergency legislation by what I might call the local authority or the regional authority, emergencies should also be reported to this House within 10 days, actions under emergencies should be reported to this House, and this House should have the duty of endorsing them or, if it thinks fit, of rejecting them.
    I urge on the Committee that this is a very important principle to maintain human rights, to maintain liberties and to maintain democracy. I hope that it may be possible for the Government to accept the Amendment.
    Mr. Profumo: I think that the wording of the proposed Amendment would not in fact satisfy the desire of hon. Members who have put their names to it. The Order in Council is merely an enabling

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    Order which confers on the prescribed authority the power authorised by Clause 3. It would be of no avail that that Order should he endorsed by Parliament and the legislatures concerned within 10 days. It would not be appropriate for such an Order to be endorsed by any legislature at all.
    It is clear what hon. Members want here. It is that the actual emergency legislation made by the authority under the Order should be subject to endorsement by Parliament here and by local assemblies concerned. It would obviously not be a practicable proposition for Parliament here to take the actions suggested with relation to the legislation required for, and probably actually being made daring, an emergency in the Caribbean. Quite apart from the time and distance involved, Parliament might not be siting at the time. Similarly, endorsements by the local legislature within a specified time might be wholly impracticable.
    For instance, if the emergency regulation was made as a result of a terrible hurricane in the Caribbean, surrounding the far-flung little islands of the Turks and Caicos, we could not possibly call members of the legislature together, whether they were elected or unofficial, if all the communications were interrupted, the sea in storm, and so on. There must be arrangements whereby the executive can bring into being these emergency regulations if they are required. Furthermore, this is a form of control which the local legislature does not possess in respect of emergency laws made under statutory Orders in Council in any Colonial Territory at all. Nowhere are the details of colonial emergency regulations subject to endorsement by Parliament here.
    Hon. Members need not fear that they are giving unfettered powers to the executive. So long as Her Majesty's Government are responsible for these territories, Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom can ask Questions about them and, in appropriate circumstances, can seek a debate on emergency laws in those cases as in the case of other territories. Parliament can even go so far as repealing those laws by a special Act. Her Majesty's Government consider that there are sufficient safeguards against any abuse and it would be inappropriate that there should be any additional limitation in this
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    connection. Therefore, I regret that I cannot accept the Amendment, but I hope that what I have said will satisfy the Committee that there is nothing to be frightened about in this Clause.
    Mr. Callaghan: When I first saw the Clause I assumed that in these peaceful islands the intention of an emergency Order would be to deal with national forces of nature, such as hurricanes, rather than with a civil insurrection, but the latter could happen and, therefore, I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway) was correct in considering that aspect of the matter.
    The only thing that worries me is that the Clause says:
    "Her Majesty may…confer power on any authority to make,…laws for any of the Islands."
    What does "any authority" mean? I should have thought that that was going far wider than the usual provision in a Bill for delegation of responsibility from Her Majesty's Government. To give an extreme example, one of these islands has an American base on it. It is only a small base with, I understand, 100 men but does not the Clause give the Government power to confer on the American base powers to make laws in those circumstances because it is an authority in the island?
    Even though the wording of the Amendment might not be strictly accurate—we do not pride ourselves on our draftsmanship—I think that my hon. Friend was right in asking the Under-Secretary for more information about what is intended, who the authorities concerned are, and what check there will be on them apart from the "inquest" which could be held here after an emergency. We could ask Questions, but by that time the emergency might be over and the damage done and, maybe, repaired.
    Mr. Profumo: The word "any" in this context, as I think I pointed out on Second Reading, means either the local legislatures of the Colonial Territories concerned from the point of view of some small emergency which might arise—such as a tempest—and also means the authority in Jamaica in the case of something of a zonal nature. It also refers to the Federation Government in the case of a very wide emergency covering the

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    whole Caribbean. That is why the words "any authority" have been used.
    The hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) is right in saying that, technically, this could be conceived to apply to an American authority, but this is a British Act of Parliament and I think we must assume that it would cover only British authorities. I can give the Committee an undertaking that that is what it is intended to mean, but even if the point made by the hon. Member were valid it would not be covered by the Amendment as it stands. I hope I have satisfied the Committee on the question of why the words "any authority" are used. What they are intended to cover, and certainly would only cover, is a British authority.
    Mr. Callaghan: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, who has given the explanation which I think we expected, but would it not be useful if we were to write into the Bill—either in this Clause or in a Schedule—the authorities to whom he has referred? He has mentioned the local legislature, the Federation Government and the Government of Jamaica. Those seem perfectly reasonable. I should have thought my hon. Friend the Member for Eton and Slough would be able to withdraw his Amendment if there were some intimation from the Government that they would reconsider the matter with a view to writing in the actual authorities at the next stage of the Bill.
    Mr. Profumo: I apologise for speaking so much in this Committee. I hope that the hon. Member for Eton and Slough will not press this Amendment. I should like him to withdraw it. I should have thought it would have been enough for the Committee to take the explanation I have given as to how the Clause should be read. I should not like to make any promise, at this stage, that we should come back to the House purely on the technical point raised by the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East. Of course, I will consider it again, but I cannot give an undertaking. I hope that when hon. Members read the OFFICIAL REPORT of these proceedings they will feel that I have given an explanation which would make it unnecessary to add further words to the Bill.
    Mr. James Harrison: Would the hon. Member accept the phrase "any existing authority"?
    4.30 p.m.
    Mr. Profumo: I could not accept that. I am glad that the hon. Member has raised that point. It may well be that other authorities will be created as a result of the general Order in Council to which this Act would have to apply. I think that, on reflection, the hon. Member will realise that. There is nothing sinister about these words. They have been carefully chosen and I do not feel that I could change them. The word "any" must cover present authorities or any future authorities which might be set up.
    Mr. Brockway: I am not satisfied with the explanation of the terms of the Clause. I also regard it as a matter of important principle, and I am not willing to withdraw the Amendment.
    Amendment negatived.
    Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Clause stand part of the Bill.
    Mr. Callaghan: I did not think that my hon. Friend's Amendment, which has been negatived, was appropriate to this subsection, but I will return to the argument now. I must ask the Under-Secretary of State to reconsider what he said about the words conferring "power on any authority". We ask him seriously to consider giving us an undertaking to insert a definition of what these authorities are. He mentioned three. I put it to him that it will not be much comfort in years to come to the legislators of the day to say to them, "You should read the report of the debate which we had in the House of Commons on 28th January, 1958, on this subject."
    As it stands, the Clause gives the executive the right to confer power on "any authority," which, I repeat, may well be the United States Navy and could be the United States Marine Force, heaven help us, which, we all know, won the war in the Far East single-handed, except for the additional help of Mr. Errol Flynn. It is unreasonable to ask the House of Commons to give the executive power of such an unlimited nature as this. If the hon. Member cares to define the authorities to whom he wishes to concede this power—I can think only of three and he mentioned only three—we should be glad

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    to accept the Clause. He has mentioned the local legislature, the Federal legislature and the Jamaican legislature. Those are elected or mainly elected bodies, all of whom are responsible bodies.
    Speaking for myself, I should be happy to give him the power to concede to those three bodies this very extensive authority to make regulations which will govern the affairs and the life of all the inhabitants of these islands for any period of emergency. Martial law and almost anything else can come under the rules which they will make under this power.
    This a House of Commons matter and not a party issue. It is reasonable for the House of Commons to insist against any Government that the authorities to whom powers are to be conceded, which could be of a dictatorial nature in certain circumstances, should be defined. That seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable request, and if the hon. Member wishes to move an Amendment to that effect either now or later I am sure that it would not take more than a few seconds to put the Amendment through. It could be done very quickly, it is a reasonable request to make, and I hope that the hon. Member will be able to meet it.
    Mr. Profumo: I should like to be able to reconsider the matter, but I cannot. I am sorry. I take the point made by the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) and I am anxious to make
    progress with the Bill, but this is the customary way of phrasing this type of Clause and it follows custom which has been followed by successive Governments, including the hon. Member's party when they were in power, in many other Colonial Territories. If I gave an undertaking that we would try to specify each authority or even to write in the words "British authorities", it would open up a host of other legislation already on the Statute Book. It would be extraordinary if we singled out this little Bill and this small part of the Commonwealth for special consideration.
    I have given an undertaking that it means "British authorities", but I could not possibly specify the authorities because, as I have already said, the Act might apply to some authorities which are as yet unthought of. I have given the Committee an undertaking that these are all the powers which are needed or have been provided in the past for Parliament and for the assemblies concerned. I will certainly look at the matter again, but I should not like the Committee to think that I am giving an undertaking. I hope that in view of what I have said the hon. Member will withdraw his objection.
    Question put, That the Clause stand part of the Bill:—
    The Committee divided: Ayes 190, Noes 162.

    Division No. 30.]

    AYES

    [4.40 p.m.

    Agnew, Sir Peter

    Corfield, Capt. F. V.

    Grant-Ferris. Wg Cdr. R. (Nantwich)

    Aitken, W. T.

    Craddock, Beresford (Spelthorne)

    Green, A.

    Alport, C. J. M.

    Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E.

    Gresham Cooke, R.

    Arbuthnot, John

    Crowder, Sir John (Finchley)

    Grimston, Sir Robert (Westbury)

    Armstrong, C. W.

    Cunningham, Knox

    Grosvenor, Lt.-Col. R. G.

    Ashton, H.

    Currie, G. B. H.

    Gurden, Harold

    Astor, Hon. J. J.

    Dance, J. C. G.

    Hall, John (Wycombe)

    Baldwin, A. E.

    Davidson, Viscountess

    Harris, Reader (Heston)

    Balniel, Lord

    Digby, Simon Wingfield

    Harrison, A. B. C. (Maldon)

    Barber, Anthony

    Donaldson, cmdr. C. E. McA.

    Head, Rt. Hon. A. H.

    Beamish, Col. Tufton

    Doughty, C. J. A.

    Heald, Rt. Hon. Sir Lionel

    Bell, Philip (Bolton, E.)

    Drayson, G. B.

    Heath, Rt. Hon. E. R. G.

    Bell, Ronald (Bucks, S.)

    du Cann, E. D. L.

    Henderson, John (Cathoart)

    Bidgood, J. C.

    Dugdale, Rt. Hn. Sir T. (Richmond)

    Hill, Rt. Hon. Charles (Luton)

    Biggs-Davison, J. A.

    Duncan, Sir James

    Hill, Mrs. E. (Wythenshawe)

    Bingham, R. M.

    Elliott, R.W. (N'castle upon Tyne, N.)

    Hill, John (S. Norfolk)

    Bishop, F. P.

    Emmet, Hon. Mrs. Evelyn

    Hinchingbrooke, Viscount

    Bossom, Sir Alfred

    Farey-Jones, F. W.

    Hirst, Geoffrey

    Brooman-White, R. C.

    Finlay, Graeme

    Hobson, John (Warwick & Leam'gt'n)

    Bryan, P.

    Fisher, Nigel

    Holland-Martin, C. J.

    Burden, F. F. A.

    Fraser, Hon. Hugh (Stone)

    Hornby, R. P.

    Butcher, Sir Herbert

    Fraser, Sir Ian (M'cmbe & Lonsdale)

    Hornsby-Smith, Miss M. P.

    Carr, Robert

    Freeth, Denzil

    Hughes Hallett, Vice-Admiral J.

    Clarke, Brig. Terence (Portsmth, W.)

    Gammans, Lady

    Hughes-Young, M. H. C.

    Cole, Norman

    Garner-Evans, E. H.

    Hutchison, Michael Clark (E'b'gh, S.)

    Conant, Maj. Sir Roger

    George, J. C. (Pollok)

    Hutchison, Sir Ian Clark (E'b'gh, W.)

    Cooke, Robert

    Glover, D.

    Hyde, Montgomery

    Cooper, A. E.

    Glyn, Col. Richard H.

    Hylton-Foster, Rt. Hon. Sir Harry

    Cooper-Key, E. M.

    Goodhart, Philip

    Iremonger, T. L.

    Cordeaux, Lt.-Col. J. K.

    Gower, H. R.

    Irvine, Bryant Godman (Rye)

    Jenkins, Robert (Dulwich)

    Maydon, Lt.-Comdr. S. L. C.

    Sharples, R. C.

    Jennings, Sir Roland (Hallam)

    Medlicott, Sir Frank

    Simon, J. E. S. (Middlesbrough, W.)

    Johnson, Eric (Blaokley)

    Milligan, Rt. Hon. W. R.

    Smithers, Peter (Winchester)

    Joseph, Sir Keith

    Mott-Radclyffe, Sir Charles

    Spearman, Sir Alexander

    Kerby, Capt. H. B.

    Nabarro, G. D. N.

    Stevens, Geoffrey

    Kerr, Sir Hamilton

    Neave, Airey

    Steward, Harold (Stockport, S.)

    Kershaw, J. A.

    Nicholls, Harmar

    Steward, Sir William (Woolwich, W.)

    Kimball, M.

    Nicholson, Godfrey (Farnham)

    Stoddart-Scott, Col. Sir Malcolm

    Kirk, P. M.

    Nicolson, N. (B'n'm'th, E. & Chr'ch)

    Storey, S.

    Lambert, Hon. G.

    Noble, Comdr. Rt. Hon. Allan

    Studholme, Sir Henry

    Lambton, Viscount

    Nugent, G. R. H.

    Summers, Sir Spencer

    Lancaster, Col. C. C.

    Oakshott, H. D.

    Teeling, W.

    Leavey, J. A.

    O'Neill, Hn. Phelim (Co. Antrim, N.)

    Temple, John M.

    Leburn, W. G.

    Orr-Ewing, Sir Ian (Weston-S-Mare)

    Thompson, Kenneth (Walton)

    Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H.

    Page, R. G.

    Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.

    Legh, Hon. Peter (Petersfield)

    Pannell, N. A. (Kirkdale)

    Tiley, A. (Bradford, W.)

    Lennox-Boyd, Rt. Hon. A. T.

    Partridge, E.

    Turner, H. F. L.

    Lindsay, Hon. James (Devon, N.)

    Peel, W. J.

    Turton, Rt. Hon. R. H.

    Lindsay, Martin (Solihull)

    Peyton, J. W. W.

    Vane, W. M. F.

    Lloyd, Maj. Sir Guy (Renfrew, E.)

    Pike, Miss Mervyn

    Vickers, Miss Joan

    Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh

    Pilkington, Capt. R. A.

    Vosper, Rt. Hon. D. F.

    Macdonald, Sir Peter

    Pitt, Miss E. M.

    Wakefield, Edward (Derbyshire, W.)

    McKibbin, Alan

    Pott, H. P.

    Wakefield, Sir Waved (St. M'lebone)

    Mackie, J. H. (Galloway)

    Powell, J. Enoch

    Ward, Dame Irene (Tynemouth)

    McLaughlin, Mrs. P.

    Price, David (Eastleigh)

    Webbe, Sir H.

    Maclean, Sir Fitzroy (Lancaster)

    Price, Henry (Lewisham, W.)

    Whitelaw, W. S. I.

    MacLeod, John (Ross & Cromarty)

    Profumo, J. D.

    Williams, Paul (Sunderland, S.)

    Macmillan, Maurice (Halifax)

    Redmayne, M.

    Williams, R. Dudley (Exeter)

    Maddan, Martin

    Remnant, Hon. P.

    Wills, G. (Bridgwater)

    Maitland, Cdr. J. F. W. (Horncastle)

    Ridsdale, J. E.

    Wood, Hon. R.

    Maitland, Hon. Patrick (Lanark)

    Roberts, Sir Peter (Heeley)

    Woollam, John victor

    Manningham-Buller, Rt. Hn. Sir R.

    Robinson, Sir Roland (Blackpool, S.)

    Markham, Major Sir Frank

    Roper, Sir Harold

    TELLERS FOR THE AYES

    Marshall, Douglas

    Russell, R. S.

    Colonel J. H. Harrison and

    Mathew, R.

    Scott-Miller, Cmdr. R.

    Mr. Gibson-Watt

    NOES

    Ainsley, J. W.

    Gordon Walker, Rt. Hon. P. C.

    Mason, Roy

    Allen, Arthur (Bosworth)

    Grenfell, Rt. Hon. D. R.

    Mikardo, Ian

    Allen, Scholefield (Crewe)

    Grey, C. F.

    Mitchison, G. R.

    Awbery, S. S.

    Griffiths, David (Rother Valley)

    Monslow, W.

    Balfour, A.

    Griffiths, Rt. Hon. James (Llanelly)

    Moody, A. S.

    Bence, C. R. (Dunbartonshire, E.)

    Griffiths, William (Exchange)

    Morris, Percy (Swansea, W.)

    Benson, G.

    Grimond, J.

    Mort, D. L.

    Bevan, Rt. Hon. A. (Ebbw Vale)

    Hannan, W.

    Neal, Harold (Bolsover)

    Blenkinsop, A.

    Harrison, J. (Nottingham, N.)

    Orbach, M.

    Boardman, H.

    Hastings, S.

    Oswald, T.

    Bottomley, Rt. Hon. A. G.

    Hayman, F. H.

    Owen, W. J.

    Bowden, H. W. (Leicester, S.W.)

    Henderson, Rt. Hn. A. (Rwly Regis)

    Paget, R. T.

    Bowles, F. G.

    Herbison, Miss M.

    Paling, Rt. Hon. W. (Dearne Valley)

    Boyd, T. C.

    Hobson, C. R. (Keighley)

    Paling, Will T. (Dewsbury)

    Braddock, Mrs. Elizabeth

    Holman, P.

    Palmer, A. M. F.

    Brockway, A. F.

    Holmes, Horace

    Panned, Charles (Leeds W.)

    Broughton, Dr. A. D. D.

    Holt, A. P.

    Paton, John

    Brown, Rt. Hon. George (Belper)

    Howell, Charles (Perry Barr)

    Pearson, A.

    Burke, W. A.

    Howell Denis (All Saints)

    Peart. T. F.

    Burton, Miss F. E.

    Hoy, J. H.

    Pentland, N.

    Callaghan, L. J.

    Hughes, Cledwyn (Anglesey)

    Plummer, Sir Leslie

    Carmichael, J.

    Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.)

    Popplewell, E.

    Champion, A. J.

    Hunter, A. E.

    Prentice, R. E.

    Chetwynd G. R.

    Irving, Sydney (Dartford)

    Price, J. T. (Westhoughton)

    Clunie, J.

    Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A.

    Probert, A. R.

    Collick, P. H. (Birkenhead)

    Janner, B.

    Randall, H. E.

    Collins, V. J. (Shoreditch & Finsbury)

    Jay, Rt. Hon. D. P. T.

    Rankin, John

    Craddock, George (Bradford, S.)

    Jeger, George (Goole)

    Redhead, E. C.

    Crossman, R. H. S.

    Jones, Rt. Hon. A. Creech (Wakefield)

    Reeves, J.

    Cullen, Mrs. A.

    Jones, David (The Hartlepools)

    Reid, William

    Davies, Ernest (Enfield, E.)

    Jones, Jack (Rotherham)

    Rhodes, H.

    Davies, Stephen (Merthyr)

    Jones, J. Idwal (Wrexham)

    Roberts, Albert (Normanton)

    de Freitas, Geoffrey

    Jones, T. W. (Merioneth)

    Royle, C.

    Delargy, H. J.

    Key, Rt. Hon. C. W.

    Shinwell, Rt. Hon. E.

    Diamond, John

    King, Dr. H. M.

    Short, E. W.

    Dodds, N. N.

    Lawson, G. M.

    Silverman, Julius (Aston)

    Dye, S.

    Lee, Frederick (Newton)

    Silverman, Sydney (Nelson)

    Edwards, Rt. Hon. John (Brighouse)

    Lipton, Marcus

    Simmons, C. J. (Brierley Hill)

    Edwards, Rt. Hon. Ness (Caerphilly)

    Logan, D. G.

    Skeffington, A. M.

    Edwards, W. J. (Stepney)

    Mabon, Dr. J. Dickson

    Slater, Mrs. H. (Stoke, N.)

    Fernyhough, E.

    MaoColl. J. E.

    Smith, Ellis (Stoke, S.)

    Finch, H. J.

    McKay, John (Wallsend)

    Snow, J. W.

    Gaitskell, Rt. Hon. H. T. N.

    McLeavy, Frank

    Sorensen, R. W.

    George, Lady Megan Lloyd (Car'then)

    MacPherson, Malcolm (Stirling)

    Soskice, Rt. Hon. Sir Frank

    Gibson, C. W.

    Mahon, Simon

    Sparks, J. A.

    396

    397

    Steele, T.

    Wade, D. W.

    Williams, Rev. Llywelyn (Ab'tillery)

    Stewart, Michael (Fulham)

    Warbey, W. N.

    Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley)

    Stones, W. (Consett)

    Watkins, T. E.

    Williams, W. R. (Openshaw)

    Summerskill, Rt. Hon. E.

    Weitzman, D.

    Willis, Eustace, (Edinburgh, E.)

    Swingler, S. T.

    Wells, Percy (Faversham)

    Winterbottom, Richard

    Taylor, Bernard (Mansfield)

    West, D. G.

    Woodburn, Rt. Hon. A.

    Thomson, George (Dundee, E.)

    Wheeldon, W. E.

    Woof, R. E.

    Timmons, J.

    Wilkins, W. A.

    Usborne, H. C.

    Willey, Frederick

    TELLERS FOR THE NOES:

    Viant, S. P.

    Williams, David (Neath)

    Mr. John Taylor and Mr. Rogers.

    Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Bill reported, without Amendment.
    Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
    4.48 p.m.
    Mr. Arthur Creech Jones: There has been a tendency in recent years for very small territories to be hived off from large territories when independence or otherwise is attained. I notice that this group of islands is not the only group likely to be treated in this fashion. For instance, I understand that an Order in Council is about to be made with regard to Christmas Island. Be that as it may, it becomes a real responsibility of the House to make certain that the Government of the territories which are hived off from the principal areas should be properly governed.
    I had the very great privilege a few years ago of visiting Turks Island. I must confess that I had never been on such an arid island before. Undoubtedly, these islands have a very romantic history and have passed through various vicissitudes of government. None the less, it is imperative, because of the unproductive nature of these islands, particularly Turks Islands and adjacent islands, that the Government should bear in mind the welfare and happiness of the people in them.
    I would like to stress that, as recommended by the Royal Commission which sat in 1939, the fullest consideration should be given to the prosperity of the small Caribbean islands. The only resource of Turks Island is salt, and the fact that the salt is there makes the island extremely poor from an agricultural point of view, and the inhabitants have to import practically all their food.
    As this Bill does not provide for the representation of Turks Island or the other islands in the Federation, it should be stressed that, in the absence of that political representation, the good will and benevolence of the British Government
    398
    towards the inhabitants of these islands should, through the Federation Government, continue.
    Although, of course, an Amendment in regard to the application of colonial development and welfare funds, except through the Federal Government, was out of order, I hope that there will be insistance that, under this Act, no less provision will be made after authority is shifted from London, than is made at present. I trust that due consideration will be given to that point. These people are extremely friendly and hospitable, but their conditions are deplorable, and unless a friendly eye is kept on their well-being they are apt to suffer quite a lot.
    I welcome the Third Reading of the Bill, but I hope that, in due time, this problem of representation will be looked at in order that the voice of these islanders can be heard in the representative institutions which will be created within the Federation of The West Indies.
    4.52 p.m.
    Mr. Brockway: One of the features of the Second Reading debate was the pressure exerted from both sides of the House for a continuation of economic aids to these territories. It is true that the standard of life in the Cayman Islands is higher than that in many Colonial Territories, but the territories of the Turks and Caicos Islands are arid, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Wakefield (Mr. Creech Jones) has said. A considerable proportion of the male population has to seek a living in the Bahamas, the families being left to scratch what existence they can out of that arid land—
    Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Sir Gordon Touche): The debate on Third Reading has to be confined to the contents of the Bill, and I think that the hon. Member is going a little wide of that.
    Mr. Brockway: Then I am prepared to content myself with asking whether the Minister can say what are his intentions

    399
    in this matter. In the past, we have given a direct aid to these islands, but in the future, as they will come under the Caribbean Federation, to a large degree any assistance that is given from this country must be in the form of a block grant to that Federation.
    During the Second Reading debate hon. Members on both sides sought an assurance that the degree of assistance that has been given in the past would be maintained. All that the Minister was able to say was that there would be a block grant to the Federation, and that it would be for the Federation to determine how it would be distributed. These islands are in the unfortunate position that they will have no representation in the Federal Parliament, and for that reason a very special responsibility rests upon hon. Members, and upon the Government.
    I hope that it will be possible, in the course of this debate, for the Minister to state as definitely as possible that at least the aid that has hitherto been given to the islands will be continued in order to deal with their poverty, their need for education, the extension of their social services, the care of their health, and all those things which make the difference between poverty and human living in these territories.
    4.55 p.m.
    Mr. Nigel Fisher: I should like to support the hon. Member for Eton and Slough (Mr. Brockway). It is not often that we find ourselves in agreement, and this is not particularly a Third Reading matter. It is something that we would have liked to have dealt with during our discussion on Clause 2, but, unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding.
    I should like to get this matter clear in my mind. By the arrangements contained in the Bill we pay a block grant to the Federation and the Federal Government allocate it to the individual islands in need of financial assistance. As the hon. Member for Eton and Slough has said, almost all the other recipients will be represented in the Federal Parliament and will, therefore, to some extent have a say in the matter.
    The Turks and Caicos Islands, which are especially in need of financial help,
    400
    will not be represented. The salt industry, upon which the economy of the Turks Islands largely depends, is in much need of help to get it on its feet again. It is in need of a grant especially for that purpose.
    We provide the money from this House but, in future, we cannot decide where it is to go, who is to benefit, and to what extent in each case. It has usually been a fairly well-accepted principle in government, though people have sometimes criticised it, that the chap who pays the piper does, in fact, call the tune. As it seems to me, Clause 2 reverses that principle.
    I have no reason at all to suppose that the Federal Parliament will not make a wise allocation of our block grant. I am quite sure that it will. It will consist of very responsible people who will do their best to allocate the grant wisely; but is there no machinery at all by which we can ensure that at least as much money is distributed to individual islands from the grant as we have allocated to them from United Kingdom funds in the past? If there is no such machinery, we should, perhaps, have some sort of power hare to help these islands, if need be, if and when a crisis arises.
    The hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan), the hon. Member for Eton and Slough, myself and other hon. Members raised this point on Second Reading, and we were told by my hon. Friend, as I understood it, that there would be no way in which, during the next five years, the allocation could be altered at all. I think that the point of his argument was that we cannot tie the Federation. I recognise that, but, accepting that position, should we not reserve to ourselves some power to help if it is clear and evident that the Federal grant, for some reason not known to us at the moment, is inadequate in the result? I do not know whether my hon. Friend would be prepared to accept the principle of that suggestion, and, if so, whether there is any way in which we could safeguard the position of these small islands.
    4.59 p.m.
    Mr. Joseph Reeves: I should like to add just one word to the plea of those hon. Members who have already spoken on the application of the block grant. I believe that there are very grave dangers that, when the Federal

    401
    Government has to allocate these funds, there will be such demands from the whole area that it will be most difficult to build up a system of priorities. There is not the slightest doubt that the whole of the area needs very much more money than this country will provide during the first five years, while the whole success of the Federation will depend on its ability to make the area a viable one. We want to encourage them in every possible way along this path. As has been said, however, there is the possibility that the smaller islands which are not directly represented in the Federal Parliament will not be able to articulate their needs in the way that the other areas will be able to do.
    We are not placing any restraints upon the Federal Government, and rightly so. That would be a very unwise thing to do. At the same time, I feel convinced that when once the responsibility is accepted, the Federal Parliament will feel that it is in an absolute dilemma. The amount of money that we shall provide will be a restricted sum, and because the amount involved cannot be reviewed until the end of five years it seems to me that we are creating a very difficult situation.
    This is a Third Reading debate, and I realise its limitations, but we hope that the Minister will be able to relieve our minds on this matter. The hon. Member for Wembley, South (Mr. Russell) and I visited the Cayman Islands five years ago and I have with me today four or five memoranda which were submitted to us on that occasion. In these memoranda the people of those islands told us of their needs. It has been said that they are much better off than the people of the Caicos Island, but in their central hospital they have only one doctor for a population of 7,000. They hoped that we would help them in an appeal to the Jamaican Government to appoint a further doctor.
    Their roads are in a deplorable state, and they have only one high school. They want technical schools, and they want to see the development of secondary and technical education. I feel that the Minister has a responsibility in the matter. He could surely give strong advice as to how these sums of money should be administered. Although I should like to say more on the subject,
    402
    Mr. Deputy-Speaker, I dare not do so, because I am sure that if I did you would rule me out of order.
    5.3 p.m.
    Mr. Profumo: May I say, first, how grateful I am to hon. Members for the ease with which they have given approval to the stages of the Bill so far reached. As far as I understand, there is only one point troubling the House, a point which was troubling the House on Second Reading. It is the matter to which hon. Members have been giving voice.
    If I may say so with respect, I think there is a slight danger that we may be confusing two sorts of financial aid which the United Kingdom can render to Colonial Territories so I will, if I may, split my remarks into two parts and try to convince hon. Members that everything is going to be well.
    The first aid is given from colonial development and welfare sources. The allocations for colonial development and welfare have already been made and will remain the same till 1960 when the present Act will cease to operate with regard to the islands which we are considering today. Therefore, there would be no purpose in writing anything of this sort into the Bill.
    I accept the point made about the need of these territories. That matter will be considered by Her Majesty's Government when specific plans are agreed to for which territories colonial development funds are allocated. There will be absolutely no difference from now onwards. I cannot speculate into the realm which Parliament has not even discussed and as to what will happen after the Colonial Development and Welfare Act comes to an end in 1960, but, until that time, there will be absolutely no difference in regard to these small territories, even though they come under the Federation and in spite of the Bill, from what there is at present. They will deal directly through the Colony of Jamaica with Her Majesty's Government.
    The other type of colonial financial aid is grant aid. This is what I think is really worrying hon. Members. It would be impossible to prescribe by Act of Parliament that the grants-in-aid should in no case be on a lesser scale than that contributed during the financial year preceding any appointed day, which is what, think, some hon. Members would like.

    403
    because, of course, grants-in-aid must take into consideration the revenue of the territory concerned.
    Her Majesty's Government have to take into account the estimated revenue and expenditure for the territory concerned for the year in question. If, for instance, there is a lower revenue as a result of famine, flood or a bad harvest then the grants-in-aid might be increased, but, equally, the reverse is true. If the revenue of a territory goes up, the difference which has to be made up is less. Therefore, we could not bind the making of grants-in-aid by anything specified in an Act of Parliament.
    I would like, however, to set the minds of hon. Members at rest as to how this will happen, because, although grants-in-aid will from now onwards be made by the Federal Government from a block grant from the United Kingdom, the size of the block grant to the Federation each year far the first five years will be not less than the average total grants-in-aid made to individual federated territories for the three preceding years.
    I did not make this point clear on Second Reading and am glad to have this opportunity of doing so. I think it is fair to assume that the Federation will have sufficient funds as a result of the block grant to allocate fairly and adequately to the territories under its control. I ought to remind the House that Parliament is already committed to an act of faith by Section 3 of the British Caribbean Act, 1956, in the affairs of the Federal Government concerning the distribution of the grant to individual territories concerned. Therefore, it would be wholly wrong to seek to single out any particular territory and put it outside the scope of the arrangements.
    There is only one other side to the argument, and that is that these territories are in a rather special position. They are very small and are not represented in the Federal Parliament. The question of representation in the Federal Assembly was considered by Parliament during the
    404
    passage of the British Caribbean Federation Bill and later, when Parliament approved the Order in Council under the Act. It would be equally impossible at this stage to change an arrangement whereby a very careful balance of representation has been achieved on that Assembly. The right hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Creech Jones) probably knows better than anyone how difficult it was to arrive at that very careful balance, and a moment's reflection by hon. Members on the general set-up will show how difficult it would be to disturb this balance.
    Hon. Members will remember that these territories are far smaller than any others represented in the Federal Assembly, and they cannot have it both ways. They have a very special relationship with the Assembly. Federal laws will not apply to the territories unless it is expressely stated that they so apply. During the long consultations that preceded the setting up of the Federation neither territory made out a case for separate representation.
    I will end by taking up the point raised about keeping a friendly eye on the territories. I think that what has been said this afternoon will be very valuable to those starting this very important new federation and this great new experiment. I feel that it would be equally right to say, having discussed these matters and voiced our doubts, that we are sure that a friendly eye will be kept on the smaller islands and that it will be seen to that those who have not a direct voice in the Assembly will receive a fair allocation not only of financial help, but also of the time of their legislators.
    Once again, I thank hon. Members for allowing the Bill to proceed so quickly. I hope that I have allayed some of the suspicions which hon. Gentlemen opposite and some of my hon. Friends had.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.

  OVERSEAS SERVICE [MONEY]
  Resolution reported,
  That, for the purposes of any Act of the present Session to authorise the Secretary of State to appoint officers available for civilian employment in public services overseas, it is expedient to authorise—

  (a) the payment out of moneys provided by Parliament of expenses incurred by the Secretary of State in consequence of the provisions of the said Act or of any order made thereunder;

  (b) any increase attributable to the provisions of the said Act in the sums payable out of moneys provided by Parliament under any other enactment;

  (c) the payment into the Exchequer of sums received by the Secretary of State in consequence of the provisions of the said Act or of any order made thereunder, or in pursuance of any arrangements made by the Secretary of State (whether before or after the passing of the said Act) with Governments of overseas territories, being arrangements relating to employment in the public services of those territories, and any increase attributable to the provisions of the said Act in the sums payable into the Exchequer under any other enactment.

  Resolution agreed to.

  OVERSEAS SERVICE BILL
  Considered in Committee,
  [Mr. F. BLACKBURN in the Chair.]

  OVERSEAS SERVICE BILL

    Clause 1.—(APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE OVERSEAS.)
    5.12 p.m.
    Mr. James Callaghan: I beg to move, in page 1, line 7, to leave out "Secretary of State" and to insert "Civil Service Commissioners".
    It is always difficult to leave out the Secretary of State, but we will have a shot at it this afternoon. The Secretary of State will see that we do not want to leave him out altogether. The purpose of the subsection is to give him powers to make arrangements with other Governments for the employment of British or Commonwealth civil servants, and it provides that the Secretary of State shall be the appointing authority. The words are:
    "…the Secretary of State may appoint officers to be available for civilian employment in the public services of those territories…"
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    I understand that this is a hangover from a long-standing arrangement under which the Colonial Service appointments have been in the hands of the Secretary of State. As far as I know, the system has worked in an admirable manner. Nevertheless, there is no reason why we should not look at the arrangements and decide whether in the changed circumstances it would not be better to amend them.
    When my hon. Friends and I looked at the Bill, we could not see any reason why we should not in the changed circumstances invite the Civil Service Commissioners to undertake this work. They are responsible for appointments in the home Civil Service. According to their Annual Report, they examine or nominate about 100,000 candidates each year in the home Civil Service. According to that Report, they are also responsible for appointments to the Overseas Civil Service; and the number of appointments they recommended in the year 1956–57 was 724, so they have considerable experience of overseas appointments.
    I notice that they also act as agents for cadets for the Navy—that is presumably Dartmouth—the Army and the Royal Air Force, and 1,150 such candidates were examined. They undertake arrangements on behalf of the Metropolitan Police for entry and promotion examinations. They are responsible for the examination for first and second-class certificates for the British Transport Commission police. They perform various other agency services.
    Another argument in favour of inviting the Civil Service Commissioners to undertake the task is that they have a number of overseas offices, they do a fair amount of advertising overseas, and they have local examination centres overseas. Thus, they have, as it were, a skeleton of an organisation to undertake such a task. All these seem to be arguments in favour of concentrating in their hands the recruitment arrangements that we are discussing once arrangements have been made with the Governments concerned about pay and so on.
    5.15 p.m.
    There is a final reason which leads me to the conclusion that this would be a good idea. As the Secretary of State said on Second Reading, we hope that

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    some of the emerging territories which become independent will wish to employ members of the Overseas Civil Service. There is something to be said, at any rate in terms of dignity, for the Secretary of State for the Colonies not being responsible for making the arrangements for the appointment of men who are to serve in territories which have become independent. The Secretary of State said that it might happen that he would have to do so if he had started the arrangements before the territories had become independent. On the other hand, he said that if the territories had already become independent the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations would undertake the task. Thus, in any case we shall have two authorities according to whether the territory is self-governing or a Colony. Consequently, the arrangement at present seems to be a rather vestigial tail, and so we seek to have the Civil Service Commissioners as the appropriate authority and ask the Secretary of State to hand over his responsibilities to them.
    Mr. Donald Wade: I approach the subject from a somewhat different angle. We are concerned with the method of appointment of these overseas servants, and it appears to me that the method of appointment must in the long run affect the future development of the Overseas Service.
    I am anxious to see the greatest possible co-operation between this country and other countries of the Commonwealth, particularly the self-governing members, in creating what would eventually be a Commonwealth Service It is most important to consider not only the recruitment of administrators and technicians from Commonwealth countries such as Canada, but also recruitment by those Commonwealth countries.
    I should like to see this as a great Commonwealth venture. I think it is for that reason that hon. Members have advocated a Commonwealth Service. During the Second Reading debate several hon. Members, including my hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Grimond), referred to the need for a Commonwealth Service. In his reply to the debate the right hon. Gentleman referred to that suggestion, but he
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    alluded mainly to the advisability of using the term "Commonwealth Service."
    The main point is that we should widen the range from which members of the Service may be drawn and the method whereby they shall be appointed. I should like to hear from the right hon. Gentleman what progress, if any, has been made in the development of a Commonwealth Service and how the Bill and its proposals would fit into the wider picture. In any case, I should like to know what grounds there are for retaining the procedure whereby a Secretary of State, with the consent of the Treasury, shall make the appointments rather than have the Civil Service Commissioners do so. From such information as I have. I should have thought that, for psychological reasons, if not for others, it would be easier to bring about this co-operation with the Commonwealth countries if the appointments were made by the Civil Service Commissioners rather than by the Colonial Secretary. It is for that reason that I support the Amendment.
    The Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Alan Lennox-Boyd): I have listened with great interest and sympathy to the arguments which have been put forward. Perhaps I might first address a word to the hon. Member for Huddersfield, West (Mr. Wade). I can assure him that many valued members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service come from Dominions, and they are making individual contributions of the very greatest value.
    It is an attractive thought that if we had had a clean slate we might have been able to build an Overseas Service which would be in every sense of the word a Commonwealth Service. We should, however, be deceiving ourselves if we thought that that would be welcome in many Commonwealth countries themselves. While very ready to see individuals serving in Her Majesty's Overseas Colonial Service, if it came to the formation of a Commonwealth Service, I think that there would be a strong preference for the various Dominions of the Commonwealth making their own contribution in their own name. We shall not, I think, make much progress if we believe that we can substitute for the existing Overseas Civil Service a Commonwealth Service, though, as I say, we are delighted to welcome into that Service a considerable number of very

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    valuable recruits who come from Commonwealth countries.
    The hon. Gentleman's suggestion that for the Secretary of State should be substituted the Civil Service Commissioners would not make it easier for individuals in the Service to serve in Commonwealth countries. We have expressly referred to a "Secretary of State" in order to provide that I or my successors, my right hon. and noble Friend the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations or the Foreign Secretary could, within the meaning of the Bill, be the Secretary of State. The movement of individuals from a Colonial territory to a Commonwealth territory or to a foreign country, such as the Trucial States, would be more readily expedited by the fact that any one of the three Secretaries of State can, within the meaning of the Bill, exercise authority.
    The hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) advanced an argument about dignity, saying that territories would probably prefer the Civil Service Commissioners to replace the Secretary of State. On the last occasion he spoke about this, he said also that it was an untidy arrangement, leaving it a little uncertain as to which Secretary of State it would be. I then said, of course, as is true, that the Colonial Secretary—that is to say, myself—is the most involved, and that the majority of appointments will presumably be in territories in regard to which I and my successors will have responsibility. But, as I said, we hope that they will be appointed for service under the Bill in Commonwealth countries and, indeed, in other territories. I mentioned, in particular, the Trucial States as a possibility. I added also—the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East reminded us of it—that certainly during the currency of the Bill territories will pass out of the responsibility of the Colonial Secretary into a situation where the responsibility for relationships with them will rest with the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations.
    In the circumstances, I think that the present arrangement is really the best. For example, if somebody whom I, as Colonial Secretary, have recruited is serving in a territory which ultimately becomes an independent member of the Commonwealth, then, of course, further consultation on terms and conditions of service for that individual would be the responsibility of the Commonwealth
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    Secretary; probably, the appropriate way for such consultation to take place would be for it to be between the United Kingdom High Commissioner in the Commonwealth country and the Commonwealth Government concerned. If somebody was recruited to a territory for relations with which the Foreign Secretary was responsible, it would, of course, be the Foreign Secretary who would negotiate the terms and conditions of service. But the list would still, in a sense, be my list, the Colonial Secretary's list; there would be an obligation on me, in the first case, if such a person lost his post, to do my utmost to see that he received further employment, although in a case of that kind—indeed, in any case—there would be the closest co-operation between the various Departments concerned and the various Secretaries of State.
    The hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East said that he thought there was a strong case for changing the method of selection, although he recognised that the present system is working very well. If I may say so, it is no tribute to me, because it applies equally to the Colonial Service under all my predecessors, including the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Wakefield (Mr. Creech Jones), that it works extraordinarily well, and the link with the Secretary of State himself as the authority responsible for the Service is one very deeply valued by the Colonial Service as a whole. In my many travels, for example, during the three months of last yeas when I was in Africa, East, West and Central, I have always found how particularly keenly colonial servants value their personal link with the Secretary of State, their right of access to him and their ability to be able to come and put their doubts, uncertainties, hopes and achievements before the Secretary of State personally.
    I am in close touch, of course, as is my office also, with the Civil Service Commission. The Overseas Service Department of the Colonial Office is in constant consultation with the Civil Service Commission. In the case of administrative appointments, we have a full-dress Overseas Services Appointments Board which sits under the chairmanship of the deputy to the First Civil Service Commissioner. Recommendations come from that Board to me by way of the First Civil Service Commissioner, and with his

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    approval. He is very much in the picture. In the case of other pensionable employments, submissions for selection are made to me through the First Civil Service Commissioner. Of course, there are also, as the Committee knows, very many valued appointments made by the Crown Agents.
    It would really be inconvenient and wasteful if this perfectly successful system were changed and appointments to the Central Pool and the Special List were conducted by the Civil Service Commission, particularly as the majority of officers appointed under the Bill will already be serving members of Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service whose past records are available in the Colonial Office.
    There is the final point that the Civil Service Commissioners are not really concerned with matters beyond initial appointments, whereas I, under the terms of the Bill—as I think the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East realised—have to deal with questions of transfer, repostings, and negotiations with overseas Governments about conditions of service.
    I recognise that this is an interesting subject. I hope that the Committee, having ventilated it, will be prepared to leave things as they are in the Bill, and I believe that that would be most acceptable to the Service itself.
    Mr. Callaghan: I can understand that an overseas civil servant, after listening to the Colonial Secretary's persuasions for half an hour, would value very much his close relationship with the right hon. Gentleman, but, if he will permit me to say so, that same persuasiveness is unlikely to beguile us into believing that his speech was either relevant or satisfactory. In fact, it was neither. So far as his arguments were directed to the fact that, of course, he has a responsibility, once servants have been appointed, for their conditions of service, that is true of every civil servant who is appointed by the Civil Service Commission, as he well knows. Indeed, the staff in his own office are appointed by the Civil Service Commission; they are appointed through the administrative class of the Civil Service. As he rightly said, in a brief moment of illumination when he was "on the ball", at the
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    moment when the Civil Service Commission has appointed them, they cease to be its responsibility.
    There is, however, more in the argument than the Colonial Secretary has given us credit for, although we shall not press it this afternoon. It is something he ought to think about. We are about to set up a new Service. The Civil Service Commissioners have facilities for securing recruits which are not available to the Colonial Office, with all its efficiency. They have what is, practically, a world-wide organisation for this purpose. They are concerned with getting recruits, not with their conditions of service after appointment. I should have thought that there was every case for concentrating under the Civil Service Commissioners this particular form of recruitment. I imagine that this must be one of the last forms of recruitment to the Civil Service left under the patronage of an individual Minister, though I do not imagine that it is worth very much to the right hon. Gentleman. Nevertheless, the fact remains that there is much to be said for concentrating this procedure. Although we do not press the Amendment now, I am bound to say that it is not the eloquence of the Colonial Secretary which has persuaded us.
    Amendment negatived.
    Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Clause stand part of the Bill.
    5.30 p.m.
    Mr. Norman Pannell: The purpose of my brief intervention is to enter a plea that in implementing the conditions of the Clause, special attention shall be given to the seconding of officers to the specialised branches of medical research. This is a feature of British colonial administration which is often overlooked and which, I certainly feel, is insufficiently emphasised.
    When I was in Nigeria a little more than a year ago, I visited the research stations at Vom and Kaduna, in Northern Nigeria, both of them operating under the auspices of the West African Institute of Tropical Research. The main object of these research stations is to combat that dread disease with the very long name of trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness as it is commonly called, in regard both to man and to beast. The results have been quite phenomenal.

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    In regard to human beings, the records show that whereas in 1936 100,000 people were treated for this disease, the figure had fallen in 1956 to 5,000. When it is considered that this disease is more often fatal than not, it will be easily appreciated that as a result of the work of this organisation, hundreds of thousands of African lives have been saved.
    The results in regard to cattle are also impressive. A serum has recently been developed—
    The Temporary Chairman (Mr. F. Blackburn): I find the hon. Member's speech very interesting, but I should like to know how he is relating it to the Motion, "That the Clause stand part of the Bill".
    Mr. Pannell: I am trying to emphasise, first, the value of the service and then to call attention to the fact that there is great difficulty in recruiting officers to serve in the service; and I regard that as pertinent to the Clause. I wish briefly to state that in regard to cattle, the results have been very impressive. The results for the population of Nigeria will be enormous if, in fact, complete immunity from the tsetse fly is eventually achieved, and there are now high hopes of that.
    In relation to the Bill, I wish to emphasise that these organisations, which are performing such magnificent work, are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain staff. The attractions of other areas in Africa such as East Africa, where the climate and salary conditions are more promising, are causing several people to leave the organisation in Nigeria and it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain recruits for these organisations. Indeed, when I was at Vom, the normal staff of twelve had been reduced to nine and several of them were on a temporary basis.
    The trouble is that the Federal Government, under whose auspices these stations operate, is unwilling to improve the salary conditions of the Europeans on the ground that this would be prejudicial to the prospects of Africans entering the service. This is entirely fallacious, because Africans can acquire the necessary qualifications only by being trained by qualified and experienced Europeans on the spot. I sincerely hope that the
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    Bill will enable the Secretary of State to ensure that the present employees remain contented in their job and that suitable recruits are forthcoming to maintain this splendid work in Nigeria.
    If I may refer also to another aspect, it is in regard to the leper settlement at Oji, in Eastern Nigeria, which I also visited. I do not want to be out of order by going into that at too great length, except to say that the work there is equally magnificent and the patients—
    The Temporary Chairman: I have been very patient. The hon. Member is giving a list of achievements in different sectors which has little to do with Clause 1, although we find it interesting.
    Mr. Pannell: The purpose of the Clause, Mr. Blackburn, is to ensure that certain services in a civil capacity in Nigeria are maintained. But for the Bill, they might not be. I am trying to draw attention—
    The Temporary Chairman: I am aware of the purpose of the Clause, which is to appoint officers to be available.
    Mr. Pannell: Exactly. I hope there is no suggestion that I am resisting your Ruling, Mr. Blackburn. My purpose is to point out the services to which the Bill will be particularly useful. I am trying to urge on my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State that he should use the powers conferred upon him by the Bill to ensure that the services in these most valuable organisations are retained. It is impossible to get the services of Africans in the short term.
    If I have made my point, I will no longer persist. I am sorry if I have been out of order in doing so, Mr. Blackburn, but I wished to draw the attention of the Committee to the magnificent work that these organisations are achieving and to the essential feature of the Bill—that of ensuring that these organisations are fully and efficiently staffed in the future.
    Mr. Wade: I should like to make two brief points. First, however, I also applaud the magnificent work that is being done. I was very interested to hear what the Colonial Secretary had to say in reply to the Amendment which has just been debated. I think that the right hon. Gentleman realises as well as every one of us how difficult it is to find- suitable

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    officers to fill these posts. I am quite convinced that greater efforts will have to be made to find persons in the Dominions who are willing to serve in these overseas services. I think it is no longer possible to find the men and women who are needed from this country alone.
    My second point, with which, I am sure, the right hon. Gentleman will agree, is that we must give adequate consideration to security and pension rights. I fear that in the past sufficient consideration has not been given to that aspect. I hope that as the result of the Bill, the position will be rather better than it has been in the past.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 3.—(PROVISIONS AS TO SUPERANNUATION UNDER OTHER ENACTMENTS.)
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I beg to move, in page 4, line 10, at the end to insert:
    (6) Service as an officer to whom this Act applies, in so far as (apart from this subsection) it would not be service in the oversea civil service within the meaning of the Governors' Pensions Act, 1957, shall be deemed to be service in the oversea civil service within the meaning of that Act.
    The Committee will remember that the Governors' Pensions Act, 1957, made special provisions for the pensions of Governors who, immediately before appointment as Governors, were employed in the Overseas Civil Service, which is defined as
    "service in any office under the Government of…an overseas territory".
    The definition is in Section 17 of the 1957 Act.
    In order that these provisions may apply to overseas officers who were in the Special List or in the Central Pool before being appointed as Governor, but were not employed in an overseas service as defined by the Governors' Pensions Act, 1957, to which I have referred, it is necessary to extend the definition of "overseas service" as defined by Section 17 of the 1957 Act.
    This the proposed subsection (6) does. The result, of course, will be that if
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    the Committee agrees with this provision an Overseas Service officer who serves in the Special List or the Central Pool and subsequently becomes a Governor can have his pension computed as though his previous overseas civil service had been in the public service of overseas Governments. I think that this will commend itself to the Committee.
    Amendment agreed to.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I beg to move, in page 4, line 10, at the end to insert:
    (6) Any Firemen's Pension Scheme brought into operation, whether before or after the passing of this Act, under section twenty-six of the Fire Services Act, 1947, may include, or be varied so as to include, provision whereby, in such circumstances as may be specified in the Scheme, pensions (including allowances and gratuities) may be paid thereunder to or in respect of persons who—

    (a) have after the passing of this Act retired from employment as members of fire brigades maintained in pursuance of that Act, or from other employment treated for the purposes of the Scheme as if it were employment as a member of such a fire brigade, and

    (b) after so retiring have served as officers to whom this Act applies;

    and so much of subsection (3) of the said section twenty-six as relates to the circumstances in which a pension may be provided under such a Scheme shall not apply to any pension for which provision is made in accordance with this subsection.
    I am sorry to bother the Committee with this Amendment, but further study of the Bill has shown that it is necessary if we are to prevent an injustice. This is to enable firemen's accrued pension rights to be safeguarded on their transfer to service to which the Bill applies, in the same way as those of other public servants. We know that a number of important appointments have been made which are of great value to the Colonies concerned. Firemen are not within the scope of the Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1948, under which provision for putting pensions into cold storage will normally be made. Therefore, it is necessary to make this special provision.
    Clause 3 (6) extends the powers of Section 26 of the Fire Services Act, 1947, under which the firemen's pension scheme is made, to enable an appropriate provision to be made in the scheme. In broad terms, the intention would be that the scheme would be made to provide

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    that a fireman who transfers to service to which this Bill applies would become entitled to a pension calculated on his fire brigade service and payable by his fire authority, if and when he retires from service to which the Bill applies, in circumstances in which a pension is payable in respect of that service. We overlooked this matter when the Bill was drafted and I thought it desirable to bring it immediately to the notice of the Committee.
    Mr. David Jones: I merely want to express, on behalf of the A.M.C., its thanks to the Minister for having included this provision in the Bill. My attention was drawn some days ago to the fact that firemen were apparently to be treated differently. I only hope that, having done this, the Minister will have dealt with other sections of the public service under Clause 4, but I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for having clarified a position about which firemen were doubtful.
    Mr. Arthur Creech Jones: Do I gather that, as a result of this provision for pensions and the Amendments which are now being made, adequate provision for pension rights now exist in respect of any appointments which may be made from any sector of the public service? I appreciate that teachers, police, and firemen are provided for, but suppose that it becomes necessary for an appointment to be made from any other section of the public service. A highly professional person or well-qualified technician might be needed in a territory.
    Does it follow that, as a result of the Bill, the pension arrangements of that person in the home public service can be transferred and added to the service which he will have in the overseas territories? In other words, are we now completely covered in respect of any of these rather specialised secondments or appointments of people taken from other sections of the home public service?
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I can safely give the right hon. Gentleman an unqualified assurance that that is so.
    Amendment agreed to.
    5.45 p.m.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I beg to move, in page 4, line 11, to leave out subsection (6).
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    These words reappear in the new Clause in different terms.
    Amendment agreed to.
    Clause, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 4.—(SPECIAL PROVISION AS TO POLICE OFFICERS.)
    Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Clause stand part of the Bill.
    Mr. D. Jones: I want to raise one point on line 21. The Clause reads:
    "Where a member of a home police force is, with the consent of the appropriate authority, appointed under section one of this Act for a limited period…"
    There is some doubt in the minds of some of the authorities concerned as to what exactly a "limited period" means.
    It is obvious that the Bill protects the rights and puts into cold storage, as the Minister said on a previous Clause, the pension provisions for persons who are in pensionable employment in this country. When they return after a period in an overseas territory they are entitled to claim that proportion of the pension earned while they were in the service in this country. Concern is felt by some people as to what these words mean, for instance, in a case where police officers are seconded for special periods of duty in overseas territory. There is, for example, the case of a county police officer who responds to one of the advertisements which appear from time to time of vacancies in Colonial Territories. With the consent of the employing authority the officer undertakes the duty and he is abroad for what to all intents and purposes is a permanent and not a limited period.
    When such officers return to this country, are they entitled to have had their pensions put into cold storage in the way that civil servants, teachers, people in the health service and others are entitled? There seems to be some doubt in the minds of employing authorities in the case of the police as to whether the two types of pension, home and overseas, are covered.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: The hon. Member for The Hartlepools (Mr. D. Jones) has raised a very important point and I am very glad to have the opportunity, through replying to him, of setting any fears at rest. The purpose of the Clause

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    is to provide for individual police officers from forces in England, Wales and Scotland whose services are made available to overseas Governments on a temporary basis. The hon. Member is quite right to ask what would be the position of those police officers who are, in effect, permanently transferred to service under the Bill. My answer is that it is intended to make regulations under Section 1 (4) of the Police Pensions Act, 1948 to cover such officers.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    Clause 5.—(FINANCIAL PROVISIONS.)
    Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Clause stand part of the Bill.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I should be grateful for the opportunity to make some brief observations on this Clause so that there shall be no possible misunderstanding. I want to make it quite clear that, in addition to the specific provisions in the Bill for the payment of pensions by virtue of Clause 6 (1), which include lump sums or gratuities by way of compensation or otherwise, it will be necessary for Her Majesty's Government to pay, under the Special List agreements with Nigeria, half of an officer's salary and allowances while he is unemployed.
    Similar payments in respect of the remuneration of officers and their travelling expenses will no doubt be necessary under other Special List agreements yet to be concluded, and in respect of officers appointed to the Central Pool.
    It is the Government's hope to be able to arrange for such payments to be reimbursed to the maximum possible extent by the overseas Governments as under the Special List arrangements. Provision for the receipt of such reimbursements by overseas Governments and for other receipts, such as pension contributions payable by the officers themselves, is made in subsection (2) of the Clause.
    I wanted to stress that fact lest it should be thought that by concentrating on pensions and pension contributions this most important aspect of pay had been forgotten.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.
    Clauses 6 and 7 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

    New Clause.—(FURTHER PROVISIONS AS TO SUPERANNUATION.)
    (1) Where an officer to whom this Act applies is a participant in any pension provision made otherwise than by virtue of this Act, the Secretary of State may pay any contribution which, in accordance with the terms of that pension provision, is payable by or in respect of that officer as a participant therein.
    (2) The Secretary of State may pay, to or in respect of persons who are serving or have served as officers to whom this Act applies, such pensions or contributions in respect of pensions (not being pensions or contributions payable by the Secretary of State by virtue of any enactment other than this subsection) as may appear to him to be appropriate for giving effect to any such arrangements as are mentioned in subsection (1) of section one of this Act.
    (3) In this section "pension provision" means any law, scheme or instrument whereby provision is made for the payment of pensions, and "participant", in relation to a pension provision, means a person to whom, or in respect of whom, a pension may become payable thereunder.—[Mr. Lennox-Boyd]
    Brought up, and read the First time.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time.
    Subsections (1) and (3) of this proposed Clause are strictly new and did not figure in the Bill as presented last week. Subsection (2) replaces the original language of Clause 3 (6), which we have now deleted, and makes an additional provision. Under subsections (1) and (3), the Secretary of State will be enabled to pay pension contributions in respect of an officer to whom the Measure applies to a pension scheme to which that officer belongs.
    It seems to us desirable to have this provision since, if an officer appointed under the Act is already a member of a superannuation scheme, such as the Overseas Superannuation Scheme or of some private scheme such as the Federated Superannuation Scheme for Universities, it might be more convenient in the case of an officer appointed for a temporary period to pay a pension contribution to such a scheme rather than to attempt to make the officer pensionable for a short fine under the terms of the order made under Clause 2 of the Bill or to pay him a gratuity in respect of his temporary service. This is a sensible improvement, and I hope that the Committee will agree to it.

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    I ought also at the same time to explain subsection (2). This contains partly a new provision and is in part in substitution of the words we have just left out of Clause 3 (6). This would enable the Secretary of State to pay pensions or pension contributions in fulfilment of obligations that Her Majesty's Government have entered into in my name under the Special List agreements made with Nigeria. These agreements envisage that an officer who transfers to the special list will remain pensionable under Nigerian laws so long as he serves in Nigeria and also, if we ask it, after he leaves Nigeria and if he is unemployed or in employment which would otherwise be non-pensionable.
    We found on further examination that Clause 3 (6) was too tightly drafted, in that it only provided for the payments of pensions and not pension contributions, and only allowed pensions to be paid which were payable under the laws of an overseas territory. This last limitation might get us into a difficulty if, under the special arrangements reached with Nigeria, Special List officers should be exempted from any alteration in the Nigerian pension laws made after the date of their joining the Special List, if those alterations prejudice their pension rights. So the pension payable to them might not, therefore, be in accordance with the law of Nigeria at any one moment.
    Furthermore, it is doubtful whether it would be possible for Special List officers who have left Nigeria to be able to fulfil in every detail the provisions of the Nigerian pension legislation in, say, the giving of notice on retirement. Therefore, it seems desirable to empower the Secretary of State to pay such pensions or pension contributions as may appear to him to be appropriate for giving effect to any such arrangements such as a special list agreement.
    Mr. Wade: May I ask a question on this proposed Clause? Subsection (2) refers to—
    "…persons who are serving or have served as officers to whom this Act applies…"
    I assume this does not give any power to the Secretary of State to improve the position of those who have already retired? I take it that those who have already retired from overseas service are not
    "officers to whom this Act applies"?
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: That is so.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.
    First and Second Schedules agreed to.
    Bill reported, with Amendments; as amended, considered.
    Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Bill be now read the Third time.
    5.57 p.m.
    Mr. Ede: I want to raise a point of constitutional importance in view of what I heard the Secretary of State for the Colonies say while I was in the House before I had to leave to keep an appointment with one of his right hon. Friends. The right hon. Gentleman drew some distinction between "a Secretary of State" and "the Secretary of State", and said that he had put "a Secretary of State" into the Bill to secure a certain purpose. I cannot find "a Secretary of State" in the Bill. It is true that I have read the Bill only cursorily and that this may be there, but it is strange constitutional doctrine to me that any Secretary of State cannot act for any other Secretary of State as and when required to do so. Could the right hon. Gentleman explain the exact situation?
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I am glad of the opportunity to clear up any misunderstanding. I do not wish to draw a distinction between "a" Secretary of State and "the" Secretary of State. The distinction I was trying to draw was between the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State for the Colonies. I agree entirely with the right hon. Gentleman that any Secretary of State can act for any other Secretary of State, out we want to go further in this Bill because it may well lead to either the Foreign Secretary or the Commonwealth Secretary having specific responsibilities under the Bill. Therefore, in drafting it we were particularly anxious not to say in the definition Clause that "the Secretary of State" means the Secretary of State for the Colonies, but to leave it that it means the Secretary of State, so that it can be whichever Secretary of State is relevant for the purpose, if I may use that rather clumsy way to describe my colleagues.
    Mr. Ede: I thank the right hon. Gentleman. Of course the relevant Secretary of State on occasion may be the only Secretary of State in residence in London at the moment.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: That is true.
    5.58 p.m.
    Mr. Creech Jones: I recognise that this Bill represents in some respects a departure from the normal Treasury practice in connection with overseas service. I appreciate that the Secretary of State must have had a rather strenuous struggle with the Treasury to have secured the measure of agreement indicated by this Bill.
    I wish that the Secretary of State had won a more ample victory over the Treasury, because the Bill hardly goes far enough. I hope that as a preliminary to future arrangements within the Overseas Service the right hon. Gentleman will not abandon altogether the register which he proposed in 1954. I hope it will still be possible for younger men, as well as senior men, to register so that they may feel that the utmost elasticity will continue in the Overseas Service and that their remuneration will be covered should their appointment come to an end with the moving of any territory towards independence.
    I hope that the Special List now created by the Bill will be more widely applied than is at present contemplated. It is, at the moment, to apply to Nigeria, anti, I gather, to Malaya, but I hope the point will be rapidly reached when the Special List can be made to apply to all the Colonial Territories. I wish to see the transformation of the existing circumstances so that Special List conditions can operate over the whole service. I am moved to that view, because I think it will prove increasingly difficult to maintain the distinction in the Overseas Service between those at present employed in the Service and those transferred to the Special List. As I said earlier, it may create a degree of feeling which would not prove a happy experience for members of the Service. I hope that there will be an increasing application of the Special List so that divisions which may become intensified in the Service can be modified and eventually eliminated.
    The increasing needs of the territories for the services of persons with specialist and peculiar experience prompts me to
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    hope that the Secretary of State will make ample use of his powers to second people of such experience from our home Civil Service and from the public services of this country. As these territories emerge into the modern world and conform with the structures and institutions of our modern world, with their different standards of public conduct, it is important that we should contribute the best we can to these territories in the form of special appointments. I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will be encouraged to make increasing use of the Special List by including in it such persons from our own country who are prepared to make a contribution to the developing life of the territories.
    Hon. Members on this side of the House welcome the Bill so far as it goes. In Nigeria, and certainly Malaya, one hopes that the casualties and difficulties experienced in the last few years will be overcome. As I said during the Second Reading debate, this country and our Colonial Service have made an enormous contribution to building up the life of the territories. It would be most unfortunate if, by withholding any contribution which we could make to the administrative framework in these territories, the work of British hands over the last half-century should crumble away. Because I am anxious that as these territories reach independence they should be able to maintain the high standard and fine work done by our Colonial Service, I hope that more and more this Special List arrangement may be operated.
    We wish the right hon. Gentleman well in his application of the provisions of the Bill. We hope that he will have a greater feeling of assurance and satisfaction in the days to come, that, because of the initiative taken towards self-government, at least these territories can be safely launched on the road to independence and come to a life which is as good and prosperous for them as is possible.
    Mr. Lennox-Boyd: I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Wakefield (Mr. Creech Jones) for what he has said. He is right in saying that in a number of ways this Bill represents a departure from normal Treasury practice and contains a number of novel conceptions. I think it only chivalrous and

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    fair if I say how grateful I am to the Treasury for the patience and co-operation which has enabled me to introduce this Bill. I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that we have no intention of abandoning the central register or the Central Pool. I hope that they will be successful and also, as he said, that the Special List will prove a great success.
    I endorse what the right hon. Gentleman said about the value of secondment. I hope that every Government Department, local authority and public body in Britain will not hold the false idea that in some way they are weakening the United Kingdom if they spare some of their valued staff for overseas service. Such a widening of horizons is the only way in which the values we have in the United Kingdom will be preserved. I welcome what has been said by the right hon. Gentleman. In the knowledge that the whole House endorses the principle of this Bill lies its best hope of success.
    Question put and agreed to.
    Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.

  IMPORT DUTIES BILL
  As amended, considered.
  IMPORT DUTIES BILL

    Clause 1.—(NEW POWER TO CHARGE PROTECTIVE DUTIES.)
    6.7 p.m.
    Mr. Douglas Jay: I beg to move, in page 2, line 31, at the end to insert:
    (5) The Treasury shall not make any order under this section until the expiration of two months after notification in the Board of Trade Journal that a recommendation has been made by the Board of Trade for the making of such order, and it shall be the duty of the Treasury and the Board of Trade during such period of two months to consider any representations made by any interested party with regard to the making of the proposed order.
    Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Sir Charles MacAndrew): I think it would be convenient if we discussed this Amendment together with the following Amendment in the name of the right hon. Gentleman to Clause 5, namely, in page 6, line 44, at the end to insert:
    (8) The Treasury shall not make any order under this section until the expiration of two months after notification in the Board of Trade Journal that a recommendation has
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    been made by the Board of Trade for the making of such order, and it shall be the duty of the Treasury and the Board of Trade during such period of two months to consider any representations made by any interested party with regard to the making of the proposed order.
    Mr. Jay: If it is convenient, perhaps we might discuss those two Amendments with the Amendment to Clause 6, namely, in page 7, line 18, at the end to insert:
    (3) The Treasury shall not make any order under this section until the expiration of two months after notification in the Board of Trade Journal that a recommendation has been made by the Board of Trade for the making of such order, and it shall be the duty of the Treasury and the Board of Trade during such period of two months to consider any representations made by any interested party with regard to the making of the proposed order.
    The purpose of these three Amendments, of which the first two are the principal ones, is to give to industry, or to anybody else affected when an import duty is changed under the terms of the Bill, a clear chance to put forward their case, whether for or against the proposal the Government have in mind. We feel that they should have a chance to do that before a change in a duty becomes a fait accompli.
    This need applies to Clause 1 and also to Clauses 5 and 6. Surely it is a reasonable request from those affected, whether they be importers, manufacturers or consumers, should at least have a reasonable period to put their case in these circumstances, and not have to wake up one day and read in the Press that an Order has already been laid by the Treasury before the House. As one of my correspondents from industry put it, all demands for changes in duties come from interested parties. That is quite natural and proper, and, broadly speaking, it is the truth. There is either a demand for more protection from a home producer or manufacturer, or a demand for relief from an importer or consumer.
    I should have thought that in either case no one would dispute that it was reasonable to allow the other side to put its case before the Government. Indeed, as the President of the Board of Trade will agree, in the case of the Wilson Smith Report, which admittedly related only to the case of duty-free imports, although the argument is the same, there was a clear judgment in favour of allowing consultation.

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    In Committee, the President of the Board of Trade did not quarrel with our object. He said that there ought to be public notification that applications had been received for changes in duty. He said that that almost invariably occurred by way of notification in the Board of Trade Journal, but I am bound to tell him that representatives of industry who have written to us suggest that firms and trades want more definite assurance than they would get from merely one assurance, however sincerely meant, from one Minister.
    As one of the correspondents said to me, Ministers can give assurances, but Ministers also change. Indeed, the last Minister who spoke on the Bill was the hon. Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Powell) and he is no longer a member of the Government. We have now got to the Report stage of the Bill and, for all I know, before we reach Third Reading there may be three new Ministers at the Board of Trade. I mention that only to mark the moral that a mere assurance from a Minister is not as definite or as lasting as a provision written into the Bill.
    We are asking only that the President of the Board of Trade should give a clear statutory undertaking that the Government will do what, in fact, he says they do already and intend to do in the future. We suggested in Committee that the solution might be that the Government should have to notify publicly, for some time before an Order was made to change the duty, that there had been an application.
    The President then said that he did not want to have to notify applications, because some must be frivolous. The trouble is that if one is to have public notification, one must notify something, and if one does not notify an application because it might be frivolous, one has to find something else which the Government are obliged to notify. However, in view of that, we have suggested in the Amendment—and we do not maintain that it is the only full or perfect solution—that the obligation might be to notify not an application, but the recommendation made by the Board of Trade to the Treasury.
    The Bill says that there has to be such a recommendation in all these cases
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    before an Order can be changed. We may fairly assume that there would be no such recommendation by the Board of Trade if the original application had been frivolous, and I think that that meets the objection of the right hon. Gentleman.
    There are two other reasons for achieving our object in this way. The first is that it would cover cases where the idea of a change in the duty was initiated not through any outside application, but within the Board of Trade or some other Department of the Government. In such cases there will have to be a recommendation to the Treasury, and they would therefore be covered. There is also the reason that, on reflection, it occurred to us that it may be difficult, legally and statutorily, to define an application in this sense. Clearly, it would be easier to define a recommendation from the Board of Trade to the Treasury.
    The objection may be advanced that if it is done in this way, if consultation is ensured in this fashion, by a public notification of the recommendation by the Board of Trade to the Treasury, there is the risk of forestalling changes in taxation and that the Government would be saying publicly that they were thinking of altering a duty—an import duty in this case, but it is a form of tax—which might risk forestalling and so on. Incidentally, I notice that this year the President was more cautious, at Question Time at any rate, than he was last year in the matter of forecasting changes in Entertainments Duty.
    6.15 p.m.
    I doubt whether there is any great force in the objection to which I have just referred. It is apparently the Board of Trade's view not that public notification of its intention is dangerous, but that it is already doing that, so that there is no need of putting it into statutory form. If that is the case—and I accept the President's assurance that in the great majority of cases there is public notification already—presumably the danger of giving warning is not serious and would not have any more dangerous consequences if the warning were statutory instead of being merely voluntary. That danger is obviously inherent in any method by which the Government give the public any opportunity to put objections.

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    The substance of our case with these Amendments is that we think that traders and consumers should be given the clear assurance that they will have a chance to put their case. Having decided not to reinstate the Import Duties Advisory Committee, which was a kind of assurance to industry before the war that it could put its arguments, and also having, rightly as I think, abandoned the idea of an Import Duties Board, which would be semi-independent, but not really independent, it seems to us that there is all the more obligation for giving this assurance to industry.
    However, we do not insist that this is necessarily the best way to do it. It is the best way we have been able to conceive, but if the right hon. Gentleman can contrive to do in it some other way, then at this late stage, so long as we have the reality of the assurance of consultation, we shall be satisfied.
    Mr. Eric Fletcher: I support the Amendment. Originally, it was the intention of the President of the Board of Trade to set up an independent Import Duties Board. In Committee, as the result of the Second Reading debate, he very wisely abandoned that original idea. Nevertheless, he conceded that it was most desirable that there should be adequate consultation with industry before changes in tariffs were made and before duty-free licences were issued or licences withdrawn. There is no dispute about the necessity of ensuring adequate consultation with industry.
    I think that the right hon. Gentleman will also agree that there is no dispute about the necessity to satisfy industry that industry is adequately consulted. Conceding this desirability, in Committee the right hon. Gentleman said:
    "I am not clear how anything can be done, but if there is something that we can put into the Bill we will do it. I cannot give an assurance, because I do not know enough about the position.—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 18th December, 1957 Vol. 580, c. 494.]
    Six weeks have elapsed since then and I imagine that in the interval the right hon. Gentleman has received a number of representations in the same way that we have on this side. I imagine that he is now convinced that every effort should be made to seek a way to satisfy industry that changes will not be made without proper consultation.
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    An essential preliminary to proper consultation with industry is that those concerned should know about any contemplated change before it is made. One suggestion put forward in Committee was that the application should be advertised, but the President of the Board of Trade said that he could not accept that, because he would receive a number of applications which were frivolous or, at any rate, not worth investigating. But there are others which are worth investigating and are investigated, and our concern is to see that all such applications are advertised and made known to the interested parties before the change takes place.
    We are concerned not only where a change in tariff results from an application or suggestion emanating from an outside body, but where it emanates from within the Board of Trade itself. That is why, in an attempt to assist the Minister in giving statutory effect to the desire to ensure that industry is consulted, we have put down the Amendments in this form. The form of the Bill, following precedent, is that the Treasury makes the Orders, and does so upon the recommendation of the Board of Trade.
    The form of words used presupposes that there is an independent consideration of the matter both by the Board of Trade and the Treasury. In fact, unless that is the case it makes nonsense of the form adopted in the Bill. Therefore, it does not seem unreasonable to meet the point made about not having to deal with frivolous applications by providing—as the Amendments seek to do—that there shall be an interval between the proposal of the Board of Trade to make the application and the actual making of the Order by the Treasury. If that were done we feel sure that it would meet the very real objections which are raised by industrialists.
    As an illustration of the danger that exists I would point out that the Bill gives the Board of Trade and the Treasury power to alter tariff rates by Order. This can be highly dangerous in two ways, unless there is adequate consultation with industry. First, an unwise alteration of a tariff may well bring down retaliation by a foreign country upon British exports. Secondly, an inefficient British industry may be protected unwisely and for too long against its chief

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    competitor, to the detriment of consumers in the United Kingdom, who have to pay not only an inflated price for the foreign goods but also an artificially high price for the British goods thus protected.
    In other words, the Bill gives very wide powers to the Board of Trade. We have decided not to re-create the Import Duties Advisory Council; we have decided not to have an Import Duties Board, and we have also decided to leave the full responsibility for making the tariff changes to the Board of Trade. We are merely concerned to see that before any such orders are made there is adequate public notice, so that those who are interested in various branches of industry can make their representations made known, either for or against the proposals. These are eminently reasonable Amendments and we hope that they will be accepted.
    Mr. H. Rhodes: As the matter now stands, advertisements will be inserted in newspapers and in the Board of Trade Journal about the recommendations being made, giving people the chance to make submissions. I notice that in Committee the President of the Board of Trade said:
    "However, when we think there is a prima facie case the matter is advertised in the newspapers."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 18th December, 1957; Vol. 580, c. 493]
    What does "we" mean in this case? Is it the consultative committee to which the President referred later in Committee, or is it the President of the Board of Trade and the officials of the Department, who come to a conclusion about a prima facie case, begin their investigations, inform the trade about it, and bring the results of their investigations before the consultative committee?
    The President of the Board of Trade (Sir David Eccles): I am grateful that this point has been raised. There is no doubt that adequate consultation is very important. It was in my mind a great deal when I asked the Committee to abandon the Import Duties Board. As the House will remember, there were two points which troubled us about the procedure for making a change in duty. One was that there should be sufficient consultation with industry and consumers, and the other that we should not take too long in coming to a decision.
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    To a certain extent those two points are in conflict, because the more that we consult the longer the time taken. None the less, we must arrange, first and foremost, to have sufficient consultation. The Amendments—the spirit of which I fully understand, but which, I think, would not be helpful—would increase the time by two months. I should not object to that if it helped us to come to the right decision in the end.
    Mr. Jay: The right hon. Gentleman should appreciate that although, if the Amendments were accepted, there would be an obligation upon the Government to issue a public statement at that stage, there would be nothing to prevent them doing it earlier.
    Sir D. Eccles: If I go through the procedure the right hon. Gentleman will see that that is not the correct position. We receive many applications for changes in duty because, as the right hon. Gentleman has said, there is an interest in this matter and people want to see various duties changed. Some of those applications are patently not worth pursuing, and I can tell the hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Rhodes) that the President of the Board of Trade is responsible for rejecting those which I have described as frivolous. We should not want anyone to waste time and money in putting up a case against an application which was manifestly not going to come to anything; so those applications do not see the light of day. Quite often, the people who make them are quite glad that they do not see the light of day, when they hear the reasons we give for turning them down.
    All those applications which we regard as worth the trouble of an investigation are advertised in the Board of Trade Journal—which has a circulation of between 14,000 and 15,000, and is very widely read—in the trade Press associated with the product concerned, and also in the national Press. From that moment onwards interested parties, for and against, begin to put in their submissions, and the Board of Trade makes inquiries of all types of organisations and persons whom it thinks may be interested.
    Since the war, we have taken a very long time in carrying out these investigations—never less than a year and sometimes more than two years—and that is because the most thorough examination

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    has been made. It is really essential for the efficiency of this business that the Board of Trade should not make a recommendation to the Treasury until it has assured itself that all the relevant arguments for and against have been collected, sifted and a decision taken upon them. Without that, we would not have done our work properly.
    6.30 p.m.
    Therefore, the time when we should satisfy industry that the consultation has been adequate is before we make the recommendation for the change in the duty. I am concerned that this should be done as well as possible. We have had no representations from industry such as the right hon. Member for Battersea, North (Mr. Jay) has had that we should adopt this kind of procedure contained in the Amendments. What industry said to us before the Committee stage—we have had no representations since, so far as I am aware—was that it was felt that at times it would have been more satisfactory if representatives of industry could have come and put their case orally. I believe I mentioned in Committee that I was very willing to investigate that and to give them every opportunity to state their case—always, of course, having in mind that we must not take too long because, if so, the processes are frustrated.
    The right hon. Gentleman said that the publication of the recommendation that we had made to change a duty would not affect forestalling any more than the publication of the application. At least, I think that that is what he said. But when the application for a change in duty is widely published, nobody knows whether we are to accept it or reject it. On the other hand, if we published the decision of the Board of Trade to recommend to the Treasury an increase of so many per cent. in the duty, that would be a fair warning for every foreign exporter to rush his goods to this country, and he would have two months in which to do it. Industry tells me that it would not like that at all. Therefore, I feel that on the forestalling point we must take that matter into consideration.
    There is then the other kind of change which is not an increase in duty and which would, of course, not cause forestalling. In the case of a change where the recommendation is to reduce a duty, imports are held up and the trade has to
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    wait for a period of two months. I know that is not very long, but again it is not satisfactory to do it in that way. I assure the right hon. Gentleman that anything we can do—and I believe we can improve our methods of consultation—we will do, but the only efficient way is to do it before we come to the decision, itself. Otherwise, we should probably have to take the whole case over again.
    There is one other point. I believe that the hon. Member for Islington, East (Mr. E. Fletcher) asked me about changes in duty initiated by the Board of Trade. The Board of Trade does not initiate changes in rates of tariff. Those are the result of trade agreements and are mostly reductions in duty. These trade agreements are published, and that constitutes a warning to all and sundry that the Government have agreed with other Governments for mutual benefit to change rates of duty, but I should like to assure the hon. Gentleman that that is not the only notice that industry will get of a change of duty of this kind.
    The Board of Trade does not go into commercial negotiations without consulting the industries concerned and telling them that, in our opinion, it might be necessary and wise to alter certain rates of duty which affect their business, and they have every chance to discuss that with us before the commercial negotiation comes to its conclusion. After all, the purpose of having a commercial agreement is to benefit British industry, and therefore we try thoroughly to find out what British industry would wish us to do.
    For these reasons, I feel that while the idea behind these Amendments is perfectly sound—that industry ought to have the maximum opportunity to make its views known—the giving of the two months' warning to all and sundry either to forestall a change in duty by rushing imports here or alternatively to hold up importing, is an objection which really must be sustained.
    Mr. Jay: If I may have the leave of the House to speak again, I should like to ask the President of the Board of Trade these questions. He says that one of his main anxieties is that this procedure would lengthen the period too far. But did he not say that it was never less than a year, and often as long as two years,

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    before these investigations were completed? In those circumstances, would it really make such a great difference if a period of at least one year were lengthened by two months? If that is what is on the right hon. Gentleman's mind, would it not largely meet the point if the period were made one month rather than two months? Would that not go a long way to meet the difficulty about forestalling?
    If it is the intention of the right hon. Gentleman, as he says, that there always shall be public notification of these cases, is it really technically impossible to get over the legal drafting difficulty of putting it in the Bill?
    Sir D. Eccles: I agree that two months is not very long if the procedure has already taken two years, but, still, it is something. As the right hon. Gentleman will remember, there was considerable
    pressure during the earlier stages of the Bill to shorten the period of time occupied by these investigations. I think that they take too long and I am anxious, if I can, to shorten them.
    I do not know how to define an application which has passed the net and, therefore, it cannot be put in the Bill, but I do give the right hon. Gentleman the assurance that we shall not make a change of duty without having gone through the processes of advertisement and of collecting the views for and against. In any case, when any action is to be taken—and that is what is important—the interested parties will get good notice and plenty of opportunity to put their case.
    Question put, That those words be there inserted in the Bill:—
    The House divided: Ayes 157, Noes 197.

    Clause 10.—(PROVISIONS SUPPLEMENTARY TO PART II.)
    Mr. E. Fletcher: I beg to move, in page 11, line 10, to leave out "for the purpose of" and to insert "in connection with".
    This is a short point, but an important one, because it raises the matter of fundamental importance relating to the basic
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    principles of British justice. As the Clause reads at present, it provides, quite rightly, that if a person applying for relief from duty under Clauses 5 or 6 makes any false statement, or knowingly or recklessly furnishes a document knowing it to be false, he is subject to appropriate penalties, and no one will quarrel with that.
    We seek, by this Amendment, to remove the taint of discrimination which exists as the Clause stands. We seek to provide that the same penalties shall be suffered by a person who either applies for relief from duty or who opposes such an application.
    It seems wrong that the sanction of these penalties should apply merely to merchants who make application. They should apply equally to applicants for relief from duty and to manufacturers who, in contesting such applications, supply false evidence knowingly or recklessly. What is sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander. Why should one section be exposed to penalties for false statements and another section produce false statements with impunity? I should think that proposition only needs to be stated in those elementary terms to find acceptance on both sides of the House.
    Mr. John Paton: I beg to second the Amendment.
    Mr. Vaughan-Morgan: The hon. Member for Islington, East (Mr. E. Fletcher) has said that the purpose of the Amendment is to penalise anyone who supplies false information with the object of causing an application for relief to be rejected. I agree that there is obvious force in the argument. Falsehood is just as reprehensible whether told to obtain relief or to prevent relief, and therefore ought to be penalised. Sin is sin and, like President Coolidge, we are all "agin it".
    This point has been argued, and my right hon. Friend and I have considered it very carefully. We have come to the conclusion that we cannot accept the Amendment. I hope that I shall carry the hon. Member for Islington, East with me by going in some detail into the argument.
    Any extension of penal provisions beyond the necessary minimum is highly undesirable and to be avoided. I am advised that experience of administering these provisions in no way suggests that

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    there is a real need for the extension that is proposed nor has any evidence been produced today. It is only an hypothesis. In the absence of such evidence the House would, I am sure, accept it that the practice does not prevail.
    The purpose of Clause 10 is to deter anyone making wilfully false statements in order to obtain relief, bearing in mind that the effect of a duty-free direction is to relieve the person who receives it from a general tax which has been imposed by Parliament. Obviously, the applicant has a direct financial interest, which is often substantial, in the matter. The offence is, in fact, a fraud or attempted fraud on the Revenue.
    This is quite different from the position of anyone who may be consulted—to quote the words of the Amendment—in connection with an application. The manufacturer who may be consulted has not a similar stake in the outcome of the decision. His would be a general objection to being deprived of the protection which Parliament had approved. Furthermore, his conduct, if he were to make a false statement, although morally reprehensible, would not be an offence against the public Revenue. It may also happen that people who are consulted have no interest in the matter at all.
    The Board of Trade is very dependent upon the voluntary co-operation of British manufacturers, with or without an interest in the matter, when it is examining applications for duty or remission. The proposed penal provisions would be resented by those whom we consult and could easily have the effect of making them unwilling to cooperate with the Board of Trade or of making them feel less free to give us the information which we require. This, in turn, would seriously embarrass the administration of the duty-free licensing system. Of course, all statements are carefully scrutinised. Where the circumstances are appropriate they are also scrutinised by the applicant. The decision to recommend a duty-free direction to which a false statement had materially contributed could easily be reversed, but it does not follow that it is necessary or desirable to make it a penal offence. The Board would be able to draw its own conclusions.
    To sum up, we believe that it is wrong it to extend the penal provisions in a way
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    which experience shows to be quite unnecessary. We do not believe that it is wrong, however, to penalise fraud or attempted fraud on the Revenue.
    Mr. Jay: The Minister has made a most extraordinary speech as a result of which I find myself even more in support of the Amendment of my hon. Friend the Member for Islington, East (Mr. E. Fletcher) than I was before.
    The Minister says that no one wants to extend the list of criminal offences. That may be so as a general proposition, but, after all, he is asking us to enact these penalties for one section of the persons concerned. It is not logical to say that he can justify doing it for one section and not doing it for the other because he does not want to extend the range of penal offences.
    Secondly, he told us that no evidence has been produced that false statements ever were made by those opposing relief, as distinct from those who were proposing relief. We have no evidence that false statements have been made on the other side. The Minister then produced the extraordinary argument that applicants for relief have a financial interest in getting relief from import duties. Equally so has the opponent of relief. He has an obvious financial interest in doing so. So has the applicant for a higher duty.
    The Minister then produced the even odder argument that to apply for relief and make false statements was a fraud on the public Revenue, but to make false statements in opposing relief was not a fraud on the public Revenue, did not matter, and should not be punished by law. It is not relevant in any major fashion in this issue whether it is a fraud on the public Revenue or not. It is surely just as serious if a wrong decision on public policy is made by the Board of Trade and the Treasury because false statements have been made by an interested party opposing the granting of relief. That seems entirely without force.
    Finally, the Minister of State said that if we introduced into the Bill penal provisions threatening persons who, recklessly and knowingly, make false statements, that would damage relations with traders and manufacturers, but the Minister of State and his right hon. Friend are applying these provisions to other persons

    443
    who apply for relief and make false statements. If the argument is valid in the case of those on one side, it is equally valid to those on the other side. I have seldom heard a less convincing defence of the attitude of the Government and I hope that hon. Members will support the Amendment.
    7.0 P.m.
    Mr. Rhodes: Why is it not important if a person opposing a relief tells a lie yet important if the person who wants a relief tells a lie? Will the right hon. Gentleman explain that?
    Sir D. Eccles: I quite see the point raised by hon. Members opposite, but we are dealing with a very large number of cases, many thousands a year, in which these questions have to be investigated. I think hon. Members opposite have not realised that we do not only consult people who are directly opposed to applications. Suppose a man says that he wants to import a certain kind of machine and wishes to have duty relief because no comparable machine is made in this country. It is not only to the makers of that particular kind of machine that we would go. There are many people who are knowledgeable in that matter and who lend us their experience, but they have no interest in the case at all.
    Very often it pays to go to a consulting engineer or designer, or someone of that kind. To get that kind of cooperation, which is more important to us than anything else when we are considering whether there should be duty relief, it has to be on a voluntary basis. Bearing in mind that we have not had any experience of false statements of this kind being made, I do not think it right to enlarge the area of the penalty. We already have in another Act the penalty for which we are asking here. We are not extending it. In Section 301 of the Customs and Excise Act, 1952, and, as formerly, in Section 168 of the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876, there are penalties for false statements, but we do not think they are quite satisfactory in the form they are in existing legislation. We are merely tidying them up in this Clause.
    Mr. Rhodes: Reverting to the illustration given by the right hon. Gentleman, a machine might be made in this country similar to the one which the firm wishes to import from abroad. It might be the same in construction to the one made abroad and a good case could be made against the importation, but it might be that the production of the foreign machine is considerably more than the same type of machine manufactured here. False or misleading evidence could be given about the foreign machine.
    Mr. E. Fletcher: I found the explanations, of the Minister of State and the President thoroughly unsatisfactory—
    Mr. Speaker: The hon. Member moved the Amendment and has already spoken to it. He must ask leave of the House, and obtain it if he wishes to speak again.
    Mr. Fletcher: I can only speak again by leave of the House. I intervene only to say that I found the remarks of the President of the Board of Trade quite unsatisfactory. He referred to a possible difficulty in getting assistance from experts and consultants. No one suggests that they are likely to make false or reckless statements, or to be deterred by this Clause from giving advice. The Clause is designed to prevent reckless statements being made by interested parties. The speeches of the President of the Board of Trade and the Minister of State might almost amount to an open invitation to people to make false statements recklessly, with impunity, in opposing these applications.
    It does not seem to me that there could be any justification for refusing an Amendment of this kind. It seeks to provide that equal penalties for false statements should be available to the Government, both in the case of applicants for assistance and in the case of those who oppose such applications. I very much hope my hon. Friends will press this matter to a Division.
    Question put, That the words "for the purpose of" stand part of the Bill:—
    The House divided: Ayes 186, Noes 147.

    Division No. 31.]

    AYES

    [6.40 p.m

    Ainsley, J. W.

    Grey, C. F.

    Moody, A. S.

    Allen, Arthur (Bosworth)

    Griffiths, David (Rother Valley)

    Morris, Percy (Swansea, W.)

    Allen, Scholefield (Crewe)

    Griffiths, Rt. Hon. James (Llanelly)

    Mort, D. L.

    Awbery, S. S.

    Griffiths, William (Exchange)

    Neal, Harold (Bolsover)

    Balfour, A.

    Grimond, J.

    Oswald, T.

    Bence, C. R. (Dunbartonshire, E.)

    Hall, Rt. Hn. Glenvil (Colne Valley)

    Owen, W. J.

    Blenkinsop, A.

    Hannan, W.

    Paling, Rt. Hon. W. (Dearne Valley)

    Blyton, W. R.

    Harrison, J. (Nottingham, N.)

    Paling, Will T. (Dewsbury)

    Boardman, H.

    Hastings, S.

    Palmer, A. M. F.

    Bottomley, Rt. Hon. A. G.

    Hayman, F. H.

    Pannell, Charles (Leeds, W.)

    Bowden, H. W. (Leicester, S.W.)

    Henderson, Rt. Hn. A. (Rwly Regis)

    Pargiter, G. A.

    Braddcok, Mrs. Elizabeth

    Herbison, Miss M.

    Parker, J.

    Brockway, A. F.

    Hobson, C. R. (Keighley)

    Paton, John

    Broughton, Dr. A. D. D.

    Holman, P.

    Pearson, A.

    Brown, Rt. Hon. George (Belper)

    Holmes, Horace

    Peart, T. F.

    Brown, Thomas (Ince)

    Howell, Charles (Perry Barr)

    Pentland, N.

    Burke, W. A.

    Howell, Denis (All Saints)

    Popplewell, E.

    Callaghan, L. J.

    Hoy, J. H.

    Prentice, R. E.

    Carmichael, J.

    Hughes, Emrys (S. Ayrshire)

    Price, J. T. (Westhoughton)

    Champion, A. J.

    Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.)

    Probert, A. R.

    Chapman, W. D.

    Hunter, A. E.

    Randall, H. E.

    Chetwynd, G. R.

    Irving, Sydney (Dartford)

    Rankin, John

    Clunie, J.

    Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A.

    Redhead, E. C.

    Colliok, P. H. (Birkenhead)

    Janner, B.

    Reeves, J.

    Collins, V. J. (Shoreditch & Finsbury)

    Jay, Rt. Hon. D. P. T.

    Rhodes, H.

    Corbet, Mrs. Freda

    Jones, Rt. Hon. A. Creech (Wakefield)

    Roberts, Albert (Normanton)

    Craddook, George (Bradford, S.)

    Jones, Jack (Rotherham)

    Robinson, Kenneth (St. Pancras, N.)

    Crossman, R. H. S.

    Jones, J. Idwal (Wrexham)

    Rogers, George (Kensington, N.)

    Cullen, Mrs. A.

    Jones, T. W. (Merioneth)

    Shinwell, Rt. Hon. E.

    Davies, Ernest (Enfield, E.)

    Key, Rt. Hon. C. W.

    Silverman, Julius (Aston)

    Davies, Stephen (Merthyr)

    King, Dr. H. M.

    Silverman, Sydney (Nelson)

    Deer, G.

    Lawson, G. M.

    Skeffington, A. M.

    Delargy, H. J.

    Lee, Frederick (Newton)

    Slater, Mrs. H. (Stoke, N.)

    Diamond, John

    Logan, D. G.

    Smith, Ellis (Stoke, S.)

    Dodds, N. N.

    Mabon, Dr. J. Dickson

    Snow, J. W.

    Ede, Rt. Hon. J. C.

    MacColl, J. E.

    Soskice, Rt. Hon. Sir Frank

    Edwards, Rt. Hon. John (Brighouse)

    MacDermot, Niall

    Sparks, J. A.

    Edwards, Rt. Hon. Ness (Caerphilly)

    McKay, John (Wallsend)

    Steele, T.

    Fernyhough, E

    McLeavy, Frank

    Stewart, Michael (Fulham)

    Fienburgh, W.

    MacMillan M. K. (Western Isles)

    Stones, W. (Consett)

    Finch, H. J.

    MacPherson, Malcolm (Stirling)

    Summerskill, Rt. Hon. E.

    Fletcher, Eric

    Mahon, Simon

    Swingler, S. T.

    Gaitskell, Rt. Hon. H. T. N.

    Mallalieu, E. L. (Brigg)

    Taylor, Bernard (Mansfield)

    Gibson, C. W.

    Mason, Roy

    Taylor, John (West Lothian)

    Gordon Walker, Rt. Hon. P. C.

    Mikardo, Ian

    Thomson, George (Dundee, E.)

    Greenwood, Anthony

    Mitchison, G. R.

    Viant, S. P.

    Grenfell, Rt. Hon. D. R.

    Monslow, W.

    Wade, D. W.

    Warbey, W. N.

    Williams, David (Neath)

    Woodburn, Rt. Hon. A.

    Watkins, T. E.

    Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley)

    Woof, R. E.

    Wells, Percy (Faversham)

    Williams, W. R. (Openshaw)

    Yates, V. (Ladywood)

    Wheeldon, W. E.

    Willis, Eustace (Edinburgh, E.)

    Zilliacus, K.

    Wilkins, W. A.

    Wilson, Rt. Hon. Harold (Huyton)

    Willey, Frederick

    Winterbottom, Richard

    TELLERS FOR THE AYES:

    Mr. Short and Mr. Simmons

    NOES

    Agnew, Sir Peter

    Gurden, Harold

    Neave, Airey

    Aitken, W. T.

    Harris, Reader (Heston)

    Nicholls, Harmar

    Amory, Rt. Hn. Heathcoat (Tiverton)

    Harrison, A. B. C. (Maldon)

    Nicolson, N. (B'n'm'th, E. & Chr'ch)

    Armstrong, C. W.

    Harrison, Col. J. H. (Eye)

    Noble, Comdr. Rt. Hon. Allan

    Ashton, H.

    Harvey, John (Walthamstow, E.)

    Nugent, G. R. H.

    Baldwin, A. E.

    Head, Rt. Hon. A. H.

    Oakshott, H. D.

    Balniel, Lord

    Heald, Rt. Hon. Sir Lionel

    O'Neill, Hn. Phelim (Co. Antrim, N.)

    Barlow, Sir John

    Heath, Rt. Hon. E. R. G.

    Orr, Capt. L. P. S.

    Barter, John

    Henderson, John (Cathcart)

    Orr-Ewing, Charles Ian (Hendon, N.)

    Baxter, Sir Beverley

    Hicks-Beach, Maj. W. W.

    Orr-Ewing, Sir Ian (Weston-S-Mare)

    Beamish, Col. Tufton

    Hill, Rt. Hon. Charles (Luton)

    Page, R. G.

    Bell, Philip (Bolton, E.)

    Hill, Mrs. E. (Wythenshawe)

    Pannell, N. A. (Kirkdale)

    Bell, Ronald (Bucks, S.)

    Hill, John (S. Norfolk)

    Partridge, E.

    Bennett, Dr. Reginald

    Hinchingbrooke, Viscount

    Peel, W. J.

    Bevins, J. R. (Toxteth)

    Hirst, Geoffrey

    Peyton, J. W. W.

    Biggs-Davison, J. A.

    Hobson, John (Warwick & Leam'gt'n)

    Pike, Miss Mervyn

    Bingham, R. M.

    Holland-Martin, C. J.

    Pitt, Miss E. M.

    Bishop, F. P.

    Hope, Lord John

    Pott, H. P.

    Boyd-Carpenter, Rt. Hon. J. A.

    Hornby, R. P.

    Powell, J. Enoch

    Boyle, Sir Edward

    Horobin, Sir Ian

    Price, David (Eastleigh)

    Brooman-White, R. C.

    Hughes Hallett, Vice-Admiral J.

    Price, Henry (Lewisham, W.)

    Browne, J. Nixon (Craigton)

    Hutchison, Sir Ian Clark (E'b'gh, W.)

    Rawlinson, Peter

    Bryan, P.

    Hutchison, Michael Clark (E'b'gh, S.)

    Redmayne, M.

    Burden, F. F. A.

    Hyde, Montgomery

    Remnant, Hon. P.

    Butcher, Sir Herbert

    Hylton-Foster, Rt. Hon. Sir Harry

    Ridsdale, J. E.

    Carr, Robert

    Iremonger, T. L.

    Roberts, Sir Peter (Heeley)

    Channon, Sir Henry

    Irvine, Bryant Godman (Rye)

    Robertson, Sir David

    Clarke, Brig. Terence (Portsmth, W.)

    Jenkins, Robert (Dulwich)

    Roper, Sir Harold

    Cole, Norman

    Jennings, Sir Roland (Hallam)

    Ropner, Col. Sir Leonard

    Cooke, Robert

    Johnson, Eric (Blackley)

    Russell, R. S.

    Cooper, A. E.

    Joseph, Sir Keith

    Scott-Miller, Cmdr. R.

    Cordeaux, Lt.-Col. J. K.

    Kaberry, D.

    Sharples, R. C.

    Corfield, Capt. F. V.

    Kerby, Capt. H. B.

    Shepherd, William

    Craddock, Beresford (Spelthorne)

    Kerr, Sir Hamilton

    Simon, J. E. S. (Middlesbrough, W.)

    Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E.

    Kershaw, J. A.

    Smithers, Peter (Winchester)

    Crowder, Sir John (Finchley)

    Kimball, M.

    Spearman, Sir Alexander

    Cunningham, Knox

    Kirk, P. M.

    Stanley, Capt. Hon. Richard

    Currie, G. B. H.

    Lagden G. W.

    Stevens, Geoffrey

    Donaldson, Cmdr. C. E. McA.

    Lambton, Viscount

    Steward, Harold (Stockport, S.)

    Doughty, C. J. A.

    Lancaster, Col. C. G.

    Stoddart-Scott, Col. Sir Malcolm

    Drayson, G. B.

    Leavey, J. A.

    Storey, S.

    du Cann, E. D. L.

    Leburn, W. G.

    Studholme, Sir Henry

    Dugdale, Rt. Hn. Sir T. (Richmond)

    Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H.

    Summers, Sir Spencer

    Duncan, Sir James

    Legh, Hon. Peter (Petersfield)

    Taylor, William (Bradford, N.)

    Eccles, Rt. Hon. Sir David

    Lennox-Boyd, Rt. Hon. A. T.

    Teeling, W.

    Temple, John M.

    Elliott, R. W. (N'castle upon Tyne, N.)

    Lindsay, Hon. James (Devon, N.)

    Thompson, Kenneth (Walton)

    Fell, A.

    Linstead, Sir H. N.

    Thompson, Lt.-Cdr. R. (Croydon, S.)

    Finlay, Graeme

    Lloyd, Maj. Sir Guy (Renfrew, E.)

    Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.

    Fisher, Nigel

    Lucas, P. B. (Brentford & Chiswick)

    Tiley, A. (Bradford, W.)

    Fraser, Sir Ian (M'cmbe & Lonsdale)

    Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh

    Turton, Rt. Hon. R. H.

    Gammans, Lady

    Macdonald, Sir Peter

    Vaughan-Morgan, J. K.

    Garner-Evans, E. H.

    McKibbin, A. J.

    Vickers, Miss Joan

    George, J. C. (Pollok)

    Mackie, J. H. (Galloway)

    Vosper, Rt. Hon. D. F.

    Gibson-Watt, D.

    McLaughlin, Mrs. P.

    Wakefield, Edward (Derbyshire, W.)

    Glover, D.

    Maclean, Sir Fitzroy (Lancaster)

    Walker-Smith, Rt. Hon. Derek

    Glyn, Col. R.

    McLean, Neil (Inverness)

    Ward, Rt. Hon. G. R. (Worcester)

    Godber, J. B.

    Macmillan, Maurice (Halifax)

    Ward, Dame Irene (Tynemouth)

    Gomme-Duncan, Col. Sir Alan

    Maddan, Martin

    Webbe, Sir H,

    Goodhart, Philip

    Maitland, Hon. Patrick (Lanark)

    White law, W. S. I.

    Gower, H. R.

    Manningham-Buller, Rt. Hn. Sir R.

    Williams, Paul (Sunderland, S.)

    Graham, Sir Fergus

    Markham, Major Sir Frank

    Williams, R. Dudley (Exeter)

    Grant-Ferris, Wg Cdr. R. (Nantwich)

    Mathew, R.

    Wills, G. (Bridgwater)

    Green, A.

    Maude, Angus

    Wood, Hon. R.

    Gresham Cooke, R.

    Maydon, Lt.-Comdr. S. L. C.

    Woollam, John Victor

    Grimston, Sir Robert (Westbury)

    Mott-Radclyffe, Sir Charles

    Grosvenor, Lt.-Col. R. G.

    Nabarro, G. D. N.

    TELLERS FOR THE NOES:

    Mr. Barber and Mr. Hughes-Young.

    Division No. 32.]

    AYES

    [7.5 p.m.

    Agnew, Sir Peter

    Gurden, Harold

    Neave, Airey

    Aitken, W. T.

    Harris, Reader (Heston)

    Nicholls, Harman

    Amory, Rt. Hn. Heathcoat (Tiverton)

    Harrison, A. B. C. (Maldon)

    Noble, Comdr, Rt. Hon. Allan

    Armstrong, C. W

    Harrison, Col. J. H. (Eye)

    Nugent, G. R. H.

    Ashton, H.

    Harvey, John (Walthamstow, E.)

    Oakshott, H. D.

    Baldwin, A. E.

    Heald, Rt. Hon. Sir Lionel

    O'Neill, Hn. Phelim (Co. Antrim, N.)

    Balniel, Lord

    Heath, Rt. Hon. E. R. G.

    Orr, Capt. L. P. S.

    Barlow, Sir John

    Henderson, John (Cathcart)

    Orr-Ewing, Charles Ian (Hendon, N.)

    Barter, John

    Hicks-Beach, Maj. W. W.

    Page, R. G.

    Baiter, Sir Beverley

    Hill, Rt. Hon. Charles (Luton)

    Pannell, N. A. (Kirkdale)

    Beamish, Col. Tufton

    Hill, Mrs. E. (Wythenshawe)

    Partridge, E.

    Bell, Philip (Bolton, E.)

    Hill, John (S. Norfolk)

    Peel, W. J.

    Bell, Ronald (Bucks, S.)

    Hirst, Geoffrey

    Peyton, J. W. W.

    Bevins, J. R. (Toxteth)

    Hobson, John (Warwick & Leam'gt'n)

    Pike, Miss Mervyn

    Bidgood, J. C.

    Holland-Martin, C. J.

    Pitt, Miss E. M.

    Biggs-Davison, J. A.

    Hope, Lord John

    Pott, H. P.

    Bingham, R. M.

    Hornby, R. P.

    Powell, J. Enoch

    Bishop, F. P.

    Horobin, Sir Ian

    Price, David (Eastleigh)

    Body, R. F.

    Hughes-Young, M. H. C.

    Price, Henry (Lewisham, W.)

    Boyd-Carpenter, Rt. Hon. J. A.

    Hutchison, Michael Clark (E'b'gh, S)

    Rawlinson, Peter

    Boyle, Sir Edward

    Hutchison, Sir Ian Clark (E'b'gh, W.)

    Redmayne, M.

    Bryan, P.

    Hyde, Montgomery

    Remnant, Hon. P.

    Butcher, Sir Herbert

    Hylton-Foster, Rt. Hon. Sir Harry

    Ridsdale, J. E.

    Channon, Sir Henry

    Iremonger, T. L.

    Roberts, Sir Peter (Heeley)

    Chichester-Clark, R.

    Irvine, Bryant Godman (Rye)

    Robertson, Sir David

    Clarke, Brig. Terence (Portsmth, W.)

    Jenkins, Robert (Dulwich)

    Roper, Sir Harold

    Cole, Norman

    Jennings, Sir Roland (Hallam)

    Ropner, Col. Sir Leonard

    Coolie, Robert

    Johnson, Eric (Blackley)

    Russell, R. S.

    Cooper, A. E.

    Joseph, Sir Keith

    Scott-Miller, Cmdr. R.

    Cordeaux, Lt.-Col J. K.

    Kaberry, D.

    Sharples, R. C.

    Corfield, Capt. F. V.

    Keegan, D.

    Shepherd, William

    Craddock, Beresford (Spelthorne)

    Kerby, Capt, H. B.

    Simon, J. E. S. (Middlesbrough, W.)

    Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E.

    Kerr, Sir Hamilton

    Smithers, Peter (Winchester)

    Crowder, Sir John (Finchley)

    Kershaw, J. A.

    Stanley, Capt. Hon. Richard

    Cunningham, Knox

    Kimball, M.

    Stevens, Geoffrey

    Currie, G. B. H.

    Kirk, P. M.

    Steward, Harold (Stockport, S.)

    Donaldson, Cmdr. C. E. McA.

    Lagden, G. W.

    Stoddart-Scott, Col. Sir Malcolm

    Doughty, C. J. A.

    Lancaster, Col. C. G.

    Storey, S.

    du Cann, E. D. L.

    Langford-Holt, J. A.

    Studholme, Sir Henry

    Dugdale, Rt. Hn. Sir T. (Richmond)

    Leavey, J. A.

    Summers, Sir Spencer

    Duncan, Sir James

    Leburn, W. G.

    Taylor, William (Bradford, N.)

    Eccles, Rt. Hon. Sir David

    Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H.

    Teeling, W.

    Elliott, R. W. (N'castle upon Tyne, N.)

    Legh, Hon. Peter (Petersfield)

    Temple, John M.

    Thompson, Kenneth (Walton)

    Fell, A.

    Lindsay, Hon. James (Devon, N.)

    Thompson, Lt.-Cdr. R. (Croydon, S.)

    Finlay, Graeme

    Linstead, Sir H. N.

    Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.

    Fraser, Sir Ian (M'cmbe & Lonsdale)

    Lloyd, Mal Sir Guy (Renfrew, E.)

    Tiley, A. (Bradford, W.)

    Gammans, Lady

    Low, Rt. Hon. A. R. W.

    Turton, Rt. Hon. R. H.

    Garner-Evans, E. H.

    Lucas, P. B. (Brentford & Chiswick)

    Vaughan-Morgan, J. K.

    George, J. C. (Pollok)

    Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh

    Vickers, Miss Joan

    Gibson-Watt, D.

    Macdonald, Sir Peter

    Wade, D. W.

    Glover, D.

    McKibbin, A. J.

    Wakefield, Edward (Derbyshire, W.)

    Glyn, Col. R.

    Mackie, J. H. (Galloway)

    Walker-Smith, Rt. Hon. Derek

    Godber, J. B.

    McLaughlin, Mrs. P.

    Ward, Rt. Hon. G. R. (Worcester)

    Gomme-Duncan, Col. Sir Alan

    Maclean, Sir Fitzroy (Lancaster)

    Webbe, Sir H.

    Goodhart, Philip

    Macmillan, Maurice (Halifax)

    Whitelaw, W. S. I.

    Gower, H. R.

    Maddan, Martin

    Williams, Paul (Sunderland, S)

    Graham, Sir Fergus

    Maitland, Hon. Patrick (Lanark)

    Wills, G. (Bridgwater)

    Grant-Ferris, Wg Cdr. R. (Nantwich)

    Manningham-Buller, Rt. Hn. Sir R.

    Wood, Hon. R.

    Green, A.

    Markham, Major Sir Frank

    Woollam, John Victor

    Gresham Cooke, R.

    Mathew, R.

    Grimond, J.

    Maude, Angus

    TELLERS FOR THE AYES:

    Grimston, Sir Robert (Westbury)

    Maydon, Lt.-Comdr. S. L. C.

    Mr. Barber and

    Grosvenor, Lt.-Col. R. G.

    Mott-Radclyffe, Sir Charles

    Mr. Brooman-White.

    NOES

    Ainsley, J. W.

    Broughton, Dr. A. D. D.

    Cullen, Mrs. A.

    Allen, Arthur (Bosworth)

    Brown, Thomas (Ince)

    Davies, Ernest (Enfield, E.)

    Allen, Scholefield (Crewe)

    Burke, W. A.

    Davies, Stephen (Merthyr)

    Awbery, S. S.

    Callaghan, L. J.

    Deer, G.

    Balfour, A.

    Carmichael, J.

    Delargy, H. J.

    Bence, C. R. (Dunbartonshire, E.)

    Champion, A. J.

    Diamond, John

    Blenkinsop, A.

    Chapman, W. D.

    Dodds, N. N.

    Blyton, W. R.

    Chetwynd, G. R.

    Ede, Rt. Hon. J. C.

    Boardman, H.

    Clunie, J.

    Edwards, Rt. Hon. Ness (Caerphilly)

    Bottomley, Rt. Hon. A. G.

    Collick, P. H. (Birkenhead)

    Fernyhough, E.

    Bowden, H. W. (Leicester, S.W.)

    Collins, V. J. (Shoreditch & Finsbury)

    Fienburgh, W.

    Braddock, Mrs. Elizabeth

    Corbet, Mrs. Freda

    Finch, H. J.

    Brockway, A. F.

    Craddock, George (Bradford, S.)

    Fletcher, Eric

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    Gaitskell, Rt. Hon. H. T. N.

    Logan, D. G.

    Shinwell, Rt. Hon. E.

    Gibson, C. W.

    Mabon, Dr. J. Dickson

    Short, E. W.

    Gordon Walker, Rt. Hon. P. C.

    MacColl, J. E.

    Silverman, Julius (Aston)

    Greenwood, Anthony

    MacDermot, Niall

    Silverman, Sydney (Nelson)

    Grenfell, Rt. Hon. D. R.

    McKay, John (Wallsend)

    Skeffington, A. M.

    Grey, C. F.

    McLeavy, Frank

    Slater, Mrs. H. (Stoke, N.)

    Griffiths, David (Rother Valley)

    MacMillan, M. K. (Western Isles)

    Smith, Ellis (Stoke, S.)

    Griffiths, Rt. Hon. James (Llanelly)

    MacPherson, Malcolm (Stirling)

    Snow, J. W.

    Griffiths, William (Exchange)

    Mahon, Simon

    Soskice, Rt. Hon. Sir Frank

    Hall, Rt. Hn. Glenvil (Colney Valley)

    Mallalieu, E. L. (Brigg)

    Sparks, J. A.

    Hannan, W.

    Mason, Roy

    Steele, T.

    Harrison, J. (Nottingham, N.)

    Mitchison, G. R.

    Stewart, Michael (Fulham)

    Hastings, S.

    Monslow, W.

    Stones, W. (Consett)

    Hayman, F. H.

    Moody, A. S.

    Summerskill, Rt. Hon. E.

    Healey, Denis

    Morris, Percy (Swansea, W.)

    Swingier, S. T.

    Henderson, Rt. Hn. A. (Rwly Regis)

    Mort, D. L.

    Taylor, Bernard (Mansfield)

    Herbison, Miss M.

    Neal, Harold (Bolsover)

    Thomson, George (Dundee, E.)

    Hobson, C. R. (Keighley)

    Oswald, T.

    Viant, S. P.

    Holman, P.

    Owen, W. J.

    Warbey, W. N.

    Houghton, Douglas

    Paling, Rt. Hon. W. (Dearne Valley)

    Watkins, T. E.

    Howell, Charles (Perry Barr)

    Paling, Will T. (Dewsbury)

    Wells, Percy (Faversham)

    Howell, Denis (All Saints)

    Palmer, A. M. F.

    Wheeldon, W. E.

    Hoy, J. H.

    Pannell, Charles (Leeds, W.)

    Wilkins, W. A.

    Hughes, Emrys (S. Ayrshire)

    Pargiter, G. A.

    Willey, Frederick

    Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.)

    Parker, J.

    Williams, David (Neath)

    Hunter, A. E.

    Paton, John

    Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley)

    Irving, Sydney (Dartford)

    Pearson, A.

    Williams, W. R. (Openshaw)

    Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A.

    Peart, T. F.

    Willis, Eustace (Edinburgh, E.)

    Janner, B.

    Pentland, N.

    Wilson, Rt. Hon. Harold (Huyton)

    Jay, Rt. Hon. D. P. T.

    Popplewell, E.

    Winterbottom, Richard

    Jones, David (The Hartlepools)

    Price, J. T. (Westhoughton)

    Woodburn, Rt. Hon. A.

    Jones, Jack (Rotherham)

    Probert, A. R.

    Woof, R. E.

    Jones, J. Idwal (Wrexham)

    Randall, H. E.

    Yates, V. (Ladywood)

    Key, Rt. Hon. C. W.

    Redhead, E. C.

    Zilliacus, K.

    King, Dr. H. M.

    Rhodes, H.

    Lewson, G. M.

    Roberts, Albert (Normanton)

    TELLERS FOR THE NOES:

    Lee, Frederick (Newton)

    Rogers, George (Kensington, N.)

    Mr. Holmes and Mr. Simmons.

    Mr. E. Fletcher: I beg to move, in page 11, to leave out lines 16 and 17.
    The Amendment was put down for the purpose of obtaining some elucidation. As I understand it, the sanctions suggested in the Bill against persons who make false statements in support of their applications are twofold. Any decision obtained as a result of a false statement is to be nugatory under paragraph (a), and under paragraph (b), which seems to me to be a much more effective sanction, the person making the false statement is liable to a fine or a term of imprisonment or both.
    I want to ask the Minister whether there is any necessity for paragraph (a). As I understand the Bill, the granting of relief from duty can be reviewed at any time in the light of new information, and I therefore presume that even without this express power, if relief from duty had been obtained as a result of false statements it could be cancelled.
    It may well be that paragraph (a) is required, where an importer has imported something duty-free on the strength of the false statement, to enable the Board of Trade to claim the duty which would have been paid, but I should have thought that that result could be achieved otherwise. Perhaps
    the Minister of State would clarify why the paragraph is considered necessary.
    Mr. W. R. Williams: I beg to second the Amendment.
    7.15 p.m.
    Mr. Vaughan-Morgan: I assure the hon. Member that the provision is very much needed. The effect of the Amendment would be that the applicant who secured relief from duty by means of a false statement would be allowed to continue to enjoy the relief, and I hardly think that it is the hon. Member's intention that he should be allowed to get away with his ill-gotten gains.
    Mr. Fletcher: In view of that explanation, which I rather expected, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.
    Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

    Clause 6.—(POWER TO EXEMPT PARTICULAR IMPORTATIONS OF CERTAIN GOODS.)
    The Minister of State, Board of Trade (Mr. J. K. Vaughan-Morgan): I beg to move, in page 7, line 7, after "if", to insert:
    "The Treasury on the recommendation of".
    Would it be in order, Mr. Speaker, to take together with this Amendment the following one, in page 7, line 14, to leave out from the beginning to "any" in line 16?
    Mr. Speaker: Yes, that will be in order.
    Mr. Vaughan-Morgan: These two Amendments are designed to correct an error in the drafting of Clause 6. The intention of the Clause was to give the Treasury a discretionary power to issue duty-free directions, to specify the circumstances in which it might exercise the power and to see that it was not exercised except on a recommendation of the Board of Trade. As drafted, it provides that the Treasury may exercise the power if the Board of Trade is satisfied that it is justified in the circumstances. This is hardly logical, as it is the Treasury which has to exercise the power and which has to be satisfied that the necessary circumstances for the exercise of that power have arisen.
    There is no change of policy as regards the functions of the Treasury or of the Board of Trade, and it is intended that the whole procedure should be as now. The Amendment therefore provides that the Treasury is to be satisfied only on the recommendation of the Board of Trade. The Amendment to subsection (2) is consequential on the Amendment to subsection (1). The words are no longer necessary.
    Amendment agreed to.
    Further Amendment made: In page 7, line 14, leave out from the beginning to "any" in line 16.—[Mr. Vaughan-Morgan.]

    Fourth Schedule.—(GOODS QUALIFYING FOR EXEMPTION UNDER TREASURY DIRECTIONS.)
    Mr. Vaughan-Morgan: I beg to move, in page 18, line 48 after "manufacture", to insert "or production".
    This is a matter of technical definition. The purpose of the Amendment is to make it quite clear that we have power to

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    issue duty-free directions for certain organic intermediate products used in the production of dyestuffs in situ, for example on the fibre as well as those which are used quite separately for the manufacture of dyestuffs.
    Amendment agreed to.
    Mr. Vaughan-Morgan: I beg to move, in page 19, line 5 after "be", to insert:
    "or for the purpose of subjecting goods capable of use with those or similar articles (including goods which might be used as materials or components in such articles or in which such articles might be used as materials or components) to examination or tests with a view to promoting or improving the manufacture in the United Kingdom of those or similar goods".
    This is a rather complicated matter. Paragraph 2 provides for the relief of Import Duty on goods imported for test or examination
    "with a view to promoting or improving the manufacture"
    of similar goods in the United Kingdom. This very minor extension covers a deserving class which has come to our notice only since the Committee stage.
    Perhaps I may put it shortly by giving an example. The example which has been submitted to me is that where a manufacturer of a capping machine, which is a machine for cutting out metal caps for bottles and placing them on the necks of bottles, wanted to import a foreign machine to seal the caps on the bottles, he would be unable to do so under the present arrangement.
    The object, in short, is to test and examine in conjunction machines which are intended to function together. I could give the House a much more lengthy explanation, but I hope it will accept that which I have given.
    Amendment agreed to.
    Bill to be read the Third time Tomorrow and to be printed. [Bill 62.]

  SILICONE FLUIDS (CUSTOMS DUTY)
  7.20 p.m.
  The President of the Board of Trade (Sir David Eccles): I beg to move,
  That the Anti-Dumping (No. 1) Order, 1958, dated 1st January, 1958, a copy of which was laid before this House on 6th January, he approved.
  The Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act, 1957, became law last April and this is the first Order to be made under it. I said during the debates on the Bill that I hoped the powers for which we were asking would prove to be a deterrent and would not have to be used very often. Nobody likes imposing a duty aimed at a particular exporter or exporters. However, when the case is made out, we must be prepared to act if our own producers are not to be subject to unfair competition.
  The House may like to know that since the passing of the Act we have had a fair number of applications for duties, but only two or three of the applicants have so far made out a prima facie case for investigation. I think that proves that the deterrent effect of the Act is working.
  This Order relates to silicone fluids manufactured by a single firm in France and sold in the United Kingdom at prices below those at which the same fluids are marketed in France. Silicones are comparatively new products. They have water-repellant and anti-stick properties which make them useful for polishes, varnishes, wrappings and finishes, and demand for that kind of product is steadily increasing. Its uses are increasing in the aircraft and electrical industries; and I am told that new uses for these silicone fluids are expected. In other words, this is a branch of the chemical industry which is expanding and from which much can be hoped.
  The French manufacturer is protected by a 35 per cent. duty and also by severe import restrictions. The result is that he does not need to worry about competition in his home market. The firm, therefore, is able to sell those fluids at home at high prices, and, no doubt, the profits thus gained assist him in selling at much lower prices abroad. Hence, this is a classic case of dumping.

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  The British manufacturers on the other hand are not protected. There are neither import duties nor import quotas on the French silicone fluids coming into this country. The two firms in the trade here are Imperial Chemical Industries and Midland Silicones. Both firms are efficient and both are building up their production. I am not asking the House to give them a protective duty. This is not a duty which is to give them any form of tariff protection, but is simply to offset the unfair dumping of a single competitor. The duty of 4s. a lb., which is specified in the Order, will do just that and no more.
  The Board of Trade considered that a very careful examination into all the facts of this case should be made, especially because this was likely to be the first Order made under the Bill. We want other countries to see that we are not imposing duties under the Act without the most scrupulous examination of the facts. This examination has taken longer than I would have wished. One reason was the partial devaluation of the franc in August last which changed the calculations of the price in France relative to the price in this country. All those calculations had to be made again. I am now satisfied that dumping does exist in respect of these fluids and that a duty of 4s. is not unfair.
  I am also satisfied that material injury is being done to the two British manufacturers. They are efficient producers. They were losing orders in the home market to the French firm and they had capacity idle. I am also satisfied that the users of silicone fluids in this country will not be seriously prejudiced by having to pay the 4s. duty if they continue to import from France. The fluids are only a small proportion of the finished products, and I am sure that it is in the national interest to move against this kind of dumping.
  The French manufacturer did not deny that he was selling at lower prices in the United Kingdom than in his domestic market. He claimed that the higher prices in France were due to the smaller quantities sold in that market. We took that into account and made allowance for it, and we still found that there was dumping. It seems important, if we are to make great changes in our commercial policy, such as the European
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  Free Trade Area, that manufacturers in Europe and also in this country should accept their Governments' moves against unfair trading practices. We cannot have free trade unless it is also fair trade.
  Therefore, I hope that the House will think that this Order, the first antidumping Order which hon. Members have been asked to approve, is right and fair.
  7.28 p.m.
  Mr. H. Rhodes: This first Order under the anti-dumping legislation is indeed a most interesting event. It is pleasant to hear the President of the Board of Trade bringing to bear an argument used against us at the time the Bill was before us. Time and time again the Minister of State argued with us that we could not do these things because we were ourselves guilty of a two-price system, both in coal and in steel. It seems that some of these arguments have come home to roost.
  Will the President give the House a few more facts about this matter? Is there a price ring here between I.C.I. and the other firm? Have they a controlled system of prices when they sell to manufacturers in this country? It is stated that a Customs Duty at the rate of 4s. per lb. will be imposed. Will the President give us an idea what that involves in relation to the product when it is marketed in this country? We are entitled to know whether this commodity is imported from any other source besides France. If it is, would this Order cover such an eventuality?
  7.30 p.m.
  Mr. Eric Fletcher: It seems to me that the President of the Board of Trade has made a strong prima facie case, but I should like to ask him two more questions. Under Section 1 of the Act, the Board of Trade has power to make these Orders in a variety of circumstances. One of the circumstances is when there is any suggestion that the firm which exports the goods to this country is getting a subsidy. Will the President of the Board of Trade say whether, in this case, there is any suggestion that the firm is in receipt of anything in the nature of a subsidy from the French Government?

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  Secondly, will the right hon. Gentleman say whether the French company, to whom alone the Order applies, is the only French company which exports silicone fluids to Great Britain and whether it has a monopoly in France, or whether there are any other French companies importing silicone fluids at any differential rate?
  7.32 p.m.
  Sir James Duncan: This first Order, under the very important Act under which it is laid, should not pass without one word of commendation from the back benches on this side of the House. It may be of great importance to the development of European free trade, and from the agricultural viewpoint it also may be of very great importance. Indeed, the very threat of one of these Orders last summer protected the British early potato trade from subsidised dumping by the French. Therefore, I welcome the Order, the terms of which my right hon. Friend has explained. In doing so, he made a very good case.
  The hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Rhodes) asked what was the proportion of duty to the value of the silicone fluid. My right hon. Friend has explained that it is only a small proportion of the selling price of the goods. That, however, is not the real point. Here we are dealing with a British industry, employing British workers, producing a product which is likely to develop, with the likelihood, therefore, of employing more British workers. The industry, however, is at present hamstrung by unfair trade. The question of free trade does not enter the picture. It is unfair trade, because, as my right hon. Friend explained, it is a classical case of dumping.
  I hope that my right hon. Friend will not be afraid, if circumstances warrant, to bring further Orders before the House. The Order will have the effect of showing manufacturers abroad that the Government of this country have a duty, which they are prepared to carry out if necessary, to protect their industries against unfair trade.
  I have only one question to ask. There is nothing in the Explanatory Note about the time lag between the application by the industry and the date of the Order. Throughout our discussions on the Bill before it became an Act, I emphasised the
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  importance of speed of action. The present Order, possibly, is not a good case to argue, but there may be cases in future when speed of action will be of great importance. For the record, there-ford, can my right hon. Friend state the date of application by the industry and why, if it was as long ago as July or earlier, it has taken until 7th January, some six months or more, for the Order to become effective?
  7.35 p.m.
  Mr. Gordon Walker: As the right hon. Gentlema the President of the Board of Trade and other hon. Members have said, this is the first Order under the Customs Duties (Dumping and Subsidies) Act, 1957, and it is, therefore, important that we should clarify points, because this is how precedents get built up from the first practice. The Order deals only with the dumping provisions of the Act and not with the Question of Government subsidy; that was what I understood the right hon. Gentleman to say. There is no question of a Government subsidy behind the Order. Therefore, we are not creating any precedent under that head; we have a precedent merely under the head of dumping.
  The prime definition of dumping in the Act is that the export price is below the fair market price of the goods in the home market of the exporting country. We had a lot of discussion about this when the Bill was passing through the House. How does the President of the Board of Trade set about determining what was the fair market price? Does he make an arbitrary decision about this? Does he collect statistics about it? How does he find out what is the fair market price in France for this particular product?
  In that connection, the right hon. Gentleman should tell us, as my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Rhodes) asked, whether there are other French manufacturers of this product or whether the Order is concerned with a monopoly manufacturer. If there are more than one, do the manufacturers all sell at the same price, or are there varying prices in the French market?
  Does the 4s. duty exactly equate the difference between the export price in France and the home market price in France, or has the right hon. Gentleman

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  left something in hand? From his argument, there would appear to be nothing to prevent the firm shifting its price again. From what the right hon. Gentleman said, it appears almost to have a choice. He said that the firm has a completely protected market; within broad margins, it can sell at whatever price it likes at home and to that extent cheapen its exports. If that is true, there would be nothing to prevent the French firm from doing it all over again. Then, I suppose, there would be the delay to which the hon. Member for South Angus (Sir J. Duncan) referred. Perhaps the President of the Board of Trade has dealt partly with this by making the 4s. tax bigger than the gap which he was trying to cover. In that case, I am not sure that he has properly carried out the terms of the Act. Nevertheless, perhaps he will tell us whether the 4s. is intended merely to equate the difference that he is trying to fill.
  I should like to ask a question concerning the drafting of the Order. The Act lays down three conditions about which the President of the Board of Trade must be satisfied before he issues an Order of this nature. One is that the goods must be dumped. The right hon. Gentleman has told us about that. The second is that it must be in the national interest to impose the duty. That is set out in the Order. Those two things are recited and rehearsed in the Order.
  There is, however, a third condition which is laid down in the Act, which states that the right hon. Gentleman must be satisfied that the dumping will
  "cause or threaten material injury to an established industry in the United Kingdom".
  The right hon. Gentleman told us that he was satisfied about that. Why has he not included that condition in the Order also? The Act specifies three conditions. In the Order, the right hon. Gentleman has recited two of them. He has left one out. What would be the effect if the French firm challenged the Order in the courts? The courts would certainly be able to say that the dumping and national interest requirements of the Act were covered, because they are rehearsed in the Order; but if those two things are written in and the third is not, one might very well argue that the President of the
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  Board of Trade could not have been satisfied on the third point, otherwise he would have included it and, therefore, he must have had a reason for leaving it out. This seems to me to be a point which should be considered.
  There is also the question of what is "an established industry". I understand from the Financial Times of the 7th of this month that manufacture of the product in question began in this country only in the last few years and that before that time, according to the Financial Times, we imported primarily from the United States. Can an industry be established if it has been going only for a year or two, or does this wording mean merely "an industry"? Does the word "established" mean anything at all?
  Finally, can the Minister tell me why the Order refers to silicone fluids and not to silicone emulsions? Does the French firm not produce silicone emulsions, or if it does produce them and export them, does the Order apply in the case of emulsions as in the case of fluids? Silicone emulsions are also important in many ways similar to silicone fluids, but are a distinct product. I am informed that under this Order in the case of the French firm the export of silicone emulsions would not give rise to a countervailing duty. I should be grateful if the right hon. Gentleman could answer my questions as well as the others which have been put to him.
  7.41 p.m.
  Sir D. Eccles: Perhaps by leave of the House I might speak again to answer the questions that have been raised.
  The hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Rhodes) asked about the relationship between the 4s. duty and the price. There are a number of prices for these fluids, but, roughly speaking, 24s. is about an average price. Therefore, it is 4s. on 24s. Naturally, in our investigations we inquired whether there was a price ring or an arrangement between the two suppliers here, and we were satisfied that there was not. So far as I know, there are two manufacturers in France. One is the firm named in the Order, and the Order refers only to its product. The other manufacturer does not export here.
  The hon. Member for Islington, East (Mr. E. Fletcher) asked whether there was any question of a subsidy to the French

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  manufacturer. No, there is no question of a subsidy.
  I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for South Angus (Sir J. Duncan) that this matter seems to have taken a long time. Indeed, the application was put in almost directly after the Bill became an Act. However, we felt that in this case we should make the most careful inquiries. It is very important that other countries which have anti-dumping legislation should not think that we apply ours without very careful consideration, because they might then apply theirs similarly against our products.
  The inquiries were made largely in France. We were able through our representatives to check the domestic prices both of the firm in question and of the other manufacturer. There is no doubt that the prices were considerably higher. According to the quantity and the quality, as I understand it, the prices ranged from 2s. to 8s. per lb. above the price at which the same articles were sold in this market. Therefore, we did not make a whole range of duties. We took 4s. as being in the middle of 2s. and 8s., and we think that is about fair. [Interruption.] The 4s. is not quite in the middle, but, judging the different quantities, we thought that was about right.
  On the material injury point, I have no doubt that this is an established industry and that it is suffering material injury. We judged that first by the very large capital investments, particularly in the factory in Glamorgan, and by the fact that there is idle capacity. The industry is not producing all that it could produce, and it has lost orders because of the French imports. I think that is fairly clear evidence. I did not put in the Order the point about material injury because I did not think it was very suitable. It is not very easy to prove except in relation to a particular firm, and I think that, on the whole, it is better left out.
  Mr. Gordon Walker: I was referring not to the wisdom of it but to the necessity for it. The Act says that the right hon. Gentleman shall not act unless he is so satisfied, and he has not now provided any evidence that he is so satisfied. Why does he mention only two out of the three conditions which are statutorily laid upon him?
  Sir D. Eccles: I was advised that there was no need to put it into the Order, and I do not think that it is very likely that I should be challenged by a French firm on this point.
  The right hon. Gentleman also asked me why the Order would apply only to fluids and not to emulsions. If the franc had not been devalued, the Order would have applied to emulsions. The result of the devaluation of the franc, according to our calculations, was to take the range of emulsions out of the Order on dumping but it still left fluids within the range I hope that, with those explanations, the House will approve the Order.
  Mr. Rhodes: The point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Smethwick (Mr. Gordon Walker) is most important. If the right hon. Gentleman had included the third reason, the Order would have set out that material injury was one of the reasons. Although Hong Kong textiles may not be considered as dumped here when the price is the same as it is in Hong Kong, if the third reason had been included in the Order we might have been able to use it against the Government in respect of cheap textiles from Hong Kong.
  7.48 p.m.
  Mr. E. Fletcher: Perhaps I might have the leave of the House to speak again, as this is an important matter and I take a view rather different from that of my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Rhodes) and on this occasion I propose to come to the assistance of the President of the Board of Trade.
  It is probably relevant to tell the House that the Select Committee on Statutory Instruments, of which I have the honour to be Chairman, considered the form of the Order at its meeting yesterday and passed it. I think it is important that the House should know that the Order is in a form similar to a number of other Orders which the Committee has to consider.
  I would draw attention to the distinction in this case. Where an Act says that a Minister can make an Order provided that he is satisfied about A and B, it is very desirable, if not absolutely necessary, that the Order should recite that the Minister is satisfied about A or B. However, it is not the case here that

  459
  the Act says that the Minister shall be satisfied about A, B and C. The Act says that the Minister shall be satisfied about A and B, and it goes on to provide that if the Minister is not satisfied that the dumping produces a material injury to an established industry he shall not make an Order. Therefore, the third reason is not really a requirement but is a proviso in a different category.
  I hate to differ from my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne, but, in the interest of the form in which these Orders are made and as it may have some relevance in the future, I thought it important to point out that there was that distinction in the governing Act.
  Mr. Rhodes: Surely no case would have been made to the Board of Trade if there had not been some material injury to the firms in question. It is in relation to that proviso that objections have been lodged to the import of French silicone fluids.
  7.50 p.m.
  Sir D. Eccles: I am advised that the hon. Member for Islington, East (Mr. E. Fletcher) has made the point correctly for me, for which I am obliged. I am afraid that the hon. Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Rhodes) has got it wrong, because he forgets that we have power to impose this duty in respect of goods coming from a non-G.A.T.T. country where no material injury need be proved at all. Therefore, it is certainly not necessary to provide for it in an Order. The hon. Member will not find that, because the provision is not in the Order, the Board of Trade is any less zealous in applying the powers under the Act in respect of cases properly made out. I assure him that it will not make any difference whether it is in the Order or not; and it ought not to be in the Order, if only for the reason which the hon. Member for Islington, East gave that it is a negative provision. It is legally permissible to insert it or not to insert it in the Order.
  Question put and agreed to.
  Resolved,
  That the Anti-Dumping (No. 1) Order, 1958, dated 1st January, 1958, a copy of which was laid before this House on 6th January, be approved.

  AGRICULTURE (SILO SUBSIDIES)
  7.52 p.m.
  The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. J. B. Godber): I beg to move,
  That the Draft Silo Subsidies (Variation) (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Scheme, 1958, a copy of which was laid before this House on 19th December, be approved.
  Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Sir Gordon Touche): I think that it would be for the convenience of the House if this Motion were discussed with the next one on the Order Paper, relating to Scotland.
  Mr. Godber: Thank you, Mr. Deputy-Speaker. I think that that would be very helpful.
  I do not propose to speak at great length in moving the Motion. This variation Scheme deals with certain technical and administrative matters which have arisen in the first year of the operation of the silo subsidies scheme. It will help to strengthen the scheme and make it administratively sounder. During the past year we have had a very satisfactory response to the Scheme and, of course, it is very important that we should seek to encourage the making of silage to the greatest possible extent.
  That is the purpose of the Scheme and I think that, generally, it has succeeded. I believe that it has the approval of the House. I am sure that there are certain points of detail which hon. Members might wish to ask me but if, to save the time of the House, I move the Motion briefly at this stage perhaps, with permission, I may be allowed to answer any questions afterwards.
  7.54 p.m.
  Mr. Frederick Willey: As I am sure that the Joint Parliamentary Secretary's suggestion will meet the convenience of the House, I do not wish to detain hon. Members for more than a few minutes. As the hon. Gentleman has said, this is a variation Scheme. It offers very little opportunity for debate, but I should like to put one or two points to him.
  The hon. Gentleman will remember that when the principal Scheme was discussed, my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, South-East (Mr. Champion)

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  raised the point of the provision of larger concrete aprons in front of the silos. I would merely ask the Joint Parliamentary Secretary whether, in the light of experience of the past year, he still thinks that he is right and my hon. Friend is wrong. My hon. Friend referred particularly to the case of those in the western counties, where there is a much greater rainfall than elsewhere.
  I do not want to anticipate tomorrow's debate, but I should like to point out that we know that in his Department's Supplementary Estimates the hon. Gentleman is asking for an additional £1,400,000. There is a material point here which I do not raise in any spirit of acrimony or criticism. The amount of expenditure here is solely determined by the Department. It can determine whether the expenditure should be £600,000, as provided in the original Estimate, or should be £2 million as provided in the Supplementary Estimates.
  We are entitled to an explanation of this increase from the Joint Parliamentary Secretary. Either the number of applications which ought to be accepted have been larger than anticipated, or the Department has made a miscalculation, or it has altered the way in which it regards these applications. The hon. Gentleman might, at any rate, take this anticipatory opportunity of telling us why the applications accepted by his Department are much greater in number than was envisaged. It is a matter of some importance. It affects the global review, and it is one about which the farming community are very properly concerned. I do not think that this Scheme will cause any such additional expenditure.
  Another matter which arises more directly from the Scheme, and about which I should like further information, in the exercise of the Minister's discretion in respect of exceptional cases, where he can provide for modification of the schedules. I have no quarrel with this provision. I do not mind at all his exercising such discretion, but I think that the Joint Parliamentary Secretary should inform us of the sort of circumstances which have led his right hon. Friend to seek such discretion.
  Finally, there is a broad point, which I raise without criticism because many of us took part in the discussions on the Agriculture Act, 1947. It is rather
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  unfortunate that repeatedly we have this ad hoc approach to assistance to agriculture. We had an opportunity, which I think we missed when we were discussing the Agriculture Bill last year, of trying to make a more comprehensive provision. As the Joint Parliamentary Secretary knows, I have been in correspondence with him and I have felt that anomalies and difficulties arise from the different classifications and the different financial provisions for the different capital improvements that may be carried out.
  I should have thought that, in the light of the experience we have had of the principal Scheme, it would have been a good thing, sooner or later, to review this matter generally and to try to put the improvement schemes, if I may use that general phrase, into a more tidy form. However, we have no quarrel with this Scheme. We understand the reasons for the modifications and, on the whole, we welcome them.
  7.59 p.m.
  Mr. J. E. B. Hill: I hope that when my hon. Friend the Joint Parliamentary Secretary replies he will be able to tell us the number of the applications for these grants, and that the number will indicate, as one believes, that farmers generally have been quicker than was originally expected to take advantage of this improvement scheme, which ties in with the agricultural policy of trying to be more self-sufficient in our own grassland.
  My hon. Friend might also say whether, so far, there is any proof or evidence of improved quality in silage. One would hope that the effect of the grants would be to raise the general standards of silage made, apart from increasing the quantity. I hope that sufficient analysis of clamps is being made so that we can have more information on that matter.
  The scheme introduces a new principle of fixing standard quantities worked to specifications, and, so far as I know, it is the first time the farmer can do some of the work himself. That was the understanding we came to. I should like to know whether that has proved satisfactory in practice. It is a very important method of enabling the small farmer to contribute his own labour, and thus get over the great difficulty, from which we have suffered in the past, of not being able to have assistance for the farmer's own work.
  8.0 p.m.
  Mr. Tudor Watkins: I wish to re-endorse the plea of the hon. Member for Norfolk, South (Mr. J. E. B. Hill) for information from the Parliamentary Secretary about the experience of the Ministry regarding the use of their own labour by farmers. This is the first time it has been possible to gain such experience, and it would be interesting to know what the Ministry feels about it. If it has been a success, the hon. Gentleman should tell us: if it has been a failure, he should give the reasons.
  I understand that, generally, the Scheme has not gone very well in Wales, and if the hon. Gentleman can give figures I hope that he will not lump the figures for England and Wales together. If it is possible, may we be given separate figures for Wales? I wish to help the Minister as much as possible to get silos on farms, as is envisaged in the legislation. It should not need an Opposition Member to urge upon the Ministry the importance of this work at the present time.
  Mr. Godber: I am grateful for the way in which hon. Members have received the Scheme, and I will try to clear up the points which have been raised. The hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey) referred to a question put by his hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire, South-East (Mr. Champion) when we discussed the previous Scheme. This related to the size of the concrete apron in front of the silo. We have not received a single complaint about the inadequacy of this apron. Of course, it would be open for anyone to put down a yard under the Farm Improvement Scheme, but I am glad to tell the hon. Member that my anticipation in this matter proved more correct than that of hon. Members opposite.
  The hon. Member for Sunderland, North referred to the substantial increase over the original estimate. This was a new Scheme of a type we have never had before, and it was difficult for us to be certain how it would be received. In fact, its success has exceeded our expectations. It has gone extraordinarily well. I am delighted that it has, but its success has meant that we have this extra amount to provide.
  Nearly 13,500 schemes have been approved in the United Kingdom as a
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  whole up to the end of last December. A large number of these have been completed. I apologise to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Watkins) for the fact that I have not separate figures for Wales, for which he particularly asked. I have a breakdown of the figures between England and Wales and Northern Ireland and Scotland. I can give them separately, though, of course, that will not meet the wishes of the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor. The figure for England and Wales is 11,411, for Northern Ireland, it is 1,210, and for Scotland, 848.
  As a result of this increase, we had a larger production figure for silage last year than ever before. That is very encouraging when one remembers that last year the season was not good for the making of silage. There was a very dry spring in many areas compared with previous years, and the fact that we are able to show an increase is very satisfactory. I am hoping that next year there will be a further increase. This is something we should encourage to the utmost. As was so rightly said by my hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South (Mr. J. E. B. Hill), silage production is something we wish to see increased still further. It involves expenditure which we should all welcome, because it carries with it the implication of a reduction in the amount of imported feedingstuffs. That is something which all hon. Members will support.
  The hon. Member for Sunderland, North referred to the exercise of discretion which is provided for in the fourth paragraph of the Scheme. As he pointed out, this is a new process and it is proper that he should call attention to it. We put in that paragraph to meet a difficulty. As I said, under this Scheme we have something which is quite new. We are basing ourselves on standard costs. We have to set out in the Schedule detailed items, and we have tried to cover everything we thought practical and right. It has meant that we have come across a few schemes which it would have been most unfair to rule out of the Scheme as a whole. Yet they did not quite tie up with the wording here.
  To give an example of the sort of thing I have in mind, there are certain silos, particularly in Scotland, which have roofs known as self-supporting barrel roofs. These are put over the

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  silos and are perfectly satisfactory. Yet that is not specifically covered in the terms of the original Scheme. We felt it right that we should be able to include such cases, which fell outside the Scheme. There are not many of them, but we felt we should try to cover such cases and that was the purpose for which we introduced this paragraph.
  The hon. Member spoke of the ad hoc approach, which he deprecated. He felt that with the introduction of the Farm Improvement Scheme under the 1957 Act it would be better to bring all this under one umbrella. I sympathise with that view. Administratively, it has many attractions, but I wish to put these points to the hon. Member. This was started before the Farm Improvement Scheme was envisaged. Of course, as he said, it may be incorporated at a later stage if we felt it desirable. But these two Schemes are separate. This one is based wholly on standard costs, which is something we have not yet been able to introduce in the general Scheme. We made provision to introduce standard costs in certain respects, but it is more difficult to do so in a general Scheme than in a specific one such as this, which provides for a particular type of building.
  This Scheme was introduced as a direct incentive to produce one thing. We felt that such production should be encouraged for the benefit of good farming and in the national interest. The Farm Improvement Scheme excludes any suggestion of that sort. There is no direction or impetus towards one kind of production. We made that Scheme quite general, so that it would cover any type of farm improvement which was felt to be right and which a prudent landlord would adopt. That is the difference.
  In this Scheme we are trying to direct attention to a particular thing which we consider right and proper. In the Farm Improvement Scheme we leave it entirely to the farmer, and his advisers from the Ministry, to do what is thought right for the farm as a whole. This is a particular thing directed at a particular objective and for that reason, for the moment, at any rate, we ought to keep it separate. I will keep in mind the point the hon. Member raised. It may well be valid to incorporate it in this Scheme at a later stage.
  Mr. Willey: I am obliged for the Joint Parliamentary Secretary's reply and for
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  the assurance he has given. I should have thought that what he said about standard costs supported the general tenor of what I had said. If we had considered this in relation to improvements generally, we might have found other examples where the principle of standard costs might have been applied, although, generally, the case put by his right hon. Friend has been accepted, that this could not be done under the 1957 Act.
  Mr. Godber: Under the 1957 Act, of course, we have made provision so that if we can find a means of establishing standard costs we should do so. I hope that before long we shall be able to put forward certain suggestions for incorporating that, but in general, as the hon. Member has rightly said, it is difficult.
  My hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South asked whether there had been an improvement in quality of silage. The quality of silage varies so much and is so much dependent on the weather, as my hon. Friend is aware, that I should not like to say specifically that there has been a definite overall improvement in quality, but, in general, there is an opportunity for an improvement in quality in that way encouraging farmers to have silos of a better type. Some of the old and rather rudimentary types of silos, such as one saw in the past, must have been inefficient.
  Sir James Duncan: Certainly not.
  Mr. Godber: I am sorry if my hon. Friend the Member for South Angus (Sir J. Duncan) has a rather disreputable silo. Perhaps it does not come within that term.
  Sir J. Duncan: Mine is a deep hole in the earth and there is no wastage.
  Mr. Godber: I congratulate my hon. Friend on his skill in overcoming these difficulties. Perhaps other farmers are not as skilful as he, and so do not get the same advantage.
  My hon. Friend the Member for Norfolk, South also referred to standard costs and asked whether we found the position satisfactory. By and large we do, but, of course, the very reason for this Scheme is that we have found one or two small difficulties which we have now tried to cover. For buildings of this type, we

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  have found that, by and large, standard costs work very well and are a help for the farmers, particularly small farmers, whom we want to encourage in this way and who can use their own labour. This is something about which many of my hon. Friends feel keenly, and I am anxious that we shall use this system and extend it in any way we can.
  The hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor also felt strongly on this point. He worked very hard in the Committee which considered the 1957 Measure. I was not able to accommodate him as much as he wished, but I hope that he is satisfied on this point. I am sorry if he feels that Wales has not taken as much advantage of the Scheme as it might. I will try to get the figures for which he asked and send them to him. I will welcome any support he can give for spreading among his friends in the Principality a realisation of the need to extend this excellent Scheme still further.
  I have tried to answer the questions which I have been asked. This is a development to the principal Scheme and deals with one or two small points. I am glad to have had this opportunity of saying that the Silos Subsidies Scheme is valuable and that farmers have taken advantage of it in greater numbers than we had expected. I hope that even more will do so, because I am certain that it is in the extended use of our grassland and the further use of silage as a whole that we have great opportunities for making fuller use of our home-grown grass, thereby curtailing the use of imported feedingstuffs. That is something for which there are great opportunities open to our farmers and I commend the Scheme to the House.
  8.15 p.m.
  Mr. William Ross: My first question obviously arises because of the very disappointing figures given by the Joint Parliamentary Secretary about the position in Scotland vis-à-vis that for England and Wales. He said that 11,414 schemes were approved in England and Wales, 1,210 in Northern Ireland and only 848 in Scotland. We have been told that one of the reasons for the modifications is that there have been difficulties in Scotland.
  We might get a better picture if the Joint Under-Secretary of State for
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  Scotland told us how many applications were made and we could then compare that with how many applications were approved. Admittedly, not all of those which were not approved were turned down because of this special difficulty, but at least we would be given some indication of the disadvantage which Scotland has suffered because of this interpretation.
  Mr. Godber: May I make it clear that the cases where a difficulty has arisen were very few, I think only 22 for the whole of the United Kingdom?
  Mr. Ross: In case there are other special difficulties with which we might have been able to deal in such an amending Scheme, it might be as well to have the actual figure of applications. Since we have had the number of approved applications for the three areas, could we not be given the figure of applications in the three areas?
  The scheme has my full support and there is no doubt about the importance of saving as much as possible on imported feeding stuffs. I know that farmers in my area have discussed this matter and I have heard heated arguments about the merits of one kind of silage as against another. I think that the ease with which feeding stuffs are made available makes farmers less inclined to consider silage. They are always talking about agriculture's importance to the nation and they should be informed about the importance of saving as much imported feedingstuffs as possible.
  I wonder whether the Scottish figures are bad because of an objection to subsidies. Lord Strathclyde made a speech at Girvan in the middle of the South Ayrshire agriculture area, in which he declared that subsidies were immoral. Knowing how God-fearing the people of South Ayrshire and, indeed, the people of Scotland are, it may well be that although his speech related to housing—it was housing subsidies which he thought immoral; perhaps agricultural subsidies are all right—he may have frightened people with that reference to subsidies.
  I want to draw attention to paragraph 4 of the Scottish scheme. It is a rather strange position in which we now give the Secretary of State power to interpret a

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  statute as he likes subject only to the proviso:
  "Provided that where on account of the special circumstances of any case the Secretary of State is satisfied that any description a works specified in the schedule to this scheme in relation to the kind of works to be carried out should be modified in relation to that case…"
  In other words, the Schedule mentions a definite kind of work, and the Minister has the power to modify the words in the Schedule to make them fit certain schemes. I think that my interpretation is correct. The Scheme says:
  "Provided that…such modification does not materially alter the description of the works specified in the Schedule, the Secretary of State may approve the works subject to such modification."
  That means that we are making the description fit the works. I know that the proviso is that
  "such modification does not materially alter the description of the works specified in the Schedule…"
  but how are we to know? We shall never know what schemes will he approved by the Secretary of State, but some people will know, namely, the individual farmers.
  The Secretary of State will obviously make some such modification in respect of some works, but he will not do so in respect of others. In giving this flexible power to the Secretary of State we are placing him in a rather difficult position. We are told that 22 schemes were turned down because they did not fit in with the words of the Schedule. Can we be told whether all of those schemes, with this change made, would have been approved? If the case is that 20 would have been and the other two would not have been, the persons concerned in those other two cases will have a definite "grouse". I should have thought that the correct thing to do would have been to deal with this matter in the Schedule itself, making it perfectly clear what was the scope of the Secretary of State's powers.
  With that criticism I welcome the Scheme. I should be grateful to receive the information for which I have asked from the Joint Under-Secretary.
  8.22 p.m.
  The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Lord John Hope): I do not
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  have particulars of the number of applications made in Scotland, but I have made a note of the request of the hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Ross) and I shall meet it. The hon. Member asked why the Scottish figures appeared to be relatively less good than those for the other parts of the United Kingdom. I do not think that we should admit that; certainly the general position is not less good. It may well be that in Scotland there were already relatively more silos in position and working than elsewhere, and therefore not so many were needed when the Schemes came in.
  Mr. Ross: Is that the hon. Member's suggestion, or is it something that he merely hopes? Is it a fact?
  Lord John Hope: It is a strong probability.
  Mr. Ross: That is good.
  Lord John Hope: I think I can say that quite clearly.
  As to paragraph 4 of the Scheme, I gather from my hon. Friend that most, or all, the works would have been approved.
  Mr. Godber: They all Treasury approval.
  Lord John Hope: They all received Treasury approval.
  As to the hon. Member's general point, the answer is that the proviso itself provides that the modification must be a very minor one, inasmuch as it must not materially alter the description of the works specified in the Schedule.
  Mr. Ross: But Parliament cannot check what the Secretary of State is doing under a Statutory Instrument in respect of each case. Unless we have a complaint from someone who has been turned down we know nothing about it. It is the old question of delegated legislation.
  Mr. Archer Baldwin: Is it not a fact that in Scotland approval must be given by a body comparable to the agricultural executive committees in England, and that experts from that body inspect the scheme and approve it, or do not?
  Lord John Hope: The examination is carried out by the officers of the Department of Agriculture.
  Question put and agreed to.
  Resolved,
  That the Draft Silo Subsidies (Variation) (England and Wales and Northern Ireland) Scheme, 1958, a copy of which was laid before this House on 19th December, be approved.
  Draft Silo Subsidies (Variation) (Scotland) Scheme, 1958 [copy laid before the House, 19th December], approved.—[Lord John Hope.]

  HOSPITALS, ILFORD AND BARKING (FACILITIES)
  Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Gibson-Watt.]
  8.25 p.m.
  Mr. A. E. Cooper: It is seldom that an hon. Member gets more than two hours for his Adjournment debate, as has happened this evening, but I undertake that I shall take very little more than the normal time allowed on these occasions. My right hon. Friend will be aware that from time to time the Ilford Borough Council and other local organisations have made the strongest possible representations concerning the inadequacy of hospital accommodation in the Ilford, Barking and Dagenham areas, and a conference convened by the Ilford Council requested the opportunity to put a case for the Minister's consideration in February, 1956, but at the Minister's suggestion representatives first consulted the North-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.
  In June, 1956, the Chairman and members of the board discussed with a deputation representative of the three boroughs the inadequacy of hospital facilities in those areas, and the board's representatives promised that earnest consideration would be given to the problem in order to achieve some improvement in the very difficult situation as quickly as possible.
  Briefly, the case which the board was asked to consider was that the existing hospital provision in the three areas falls so far short of what is needed that the services are stretched beyond their capacity, and, in consequence, large numbers of patients from the areas have to seek treatment in hospitals outside the Ilford and Barking group. This, in turn, leads to the overtaxing of the services in
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  neighbouring areas and in unnecessarily long and expensive journeys having to be made by the patients and their relatives, with an additional financial burden being placed on the ambulance service.
  Indeed, for much of the year they have to enlist the aid of their neighbouring hospitals in order to accommodate their surgical patients. In addition, there are virtually no beds for the elderly chronic sick patients. The pressure on King George Hospital, as can be seen from the statistics, is far heavier than average, which creates great strain on the beds and ancillary services and also on the staff, particularly the nurses. In the King George Hospital alone there are no less than 35,000 attendances recorded in the casualty department and the accommodation has recently been castigated in the local Press as a disgrace, but within the limit of these resources the service given by the staff is excellent.
  It was submitted that the need for more hospital accommodation in the area is so great that the mere augmentation of existing services would be neither an economic nor a helpful way of dealing with the problem, and it was considered that a new hospital of about 800 to 1,000 beds was the only possible means of meeting the present difficulties. I am the first to admit that, locally, there is a conflict of opinion as to the best means of dealing with this situation. The local practitioners are of opinion that the creation of this new hospital is the only means of dealing with this very serious problem. But the hospital management committee and the local area board are of opinion that an extension of existing services—that is, additional beds both at Barking Hospital and at King George Hospital—would meet the situation.
  I am a layman and I am not in a position to pass judgment on the merits of these two schemes, but, on balance, it seems to me that, having regard to the funds which may be available, providing it was done quickly, an extension of the existing Barking Hospital and King George Hospital would meet the immediate situation. I stress the point, however, that speed is of the essence of this matter. We cannot be put off by some hope that in the future, some indeterminate future, we shall be able to deal with this problem. We must tonight have some assurance from the Minister of a date upon which work will be started.

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  The main factors supporting the case for an entirely new hospital are briefly the area and the population served. The population comprises, approximately, 250,000 people, and in this figure is not included the proportion of the population of Dagenham which normally is served by the Barking Hospital and King George Hospital. The existing hospitals in the group comprise the King George Hospital, the Barking Hospital, the Ilford Maternity Hospital and the Ilford Isolation Hospital. As present, the number of beds available in the group for all purposes is 662, but the number of staffed beds of all departments, excluding tuberculosis, infectious diseases, mental diseases, mental and convalescent beds, is 346.
  After using the standards proposed in previous planning reports, the board estimates that the approximate number of beds required in the group, excluding those previously mentioned, is 1,051 giving a total deficiency of no less than 705. That is truly an appalling figure. There are approximately 170 beds in the group which can be brought into use immediately, for example, by utilising existing wards now operating for clinic and other purposes, and under the board's long-term developments it is envisaged that an additional 100 beds will be provided at King George Hospital and an additional 200 beds at Barking Hospital, making a total of, approximately, 470 additional beds. Therefore, for general hospital purposes there will still be a deficiency in the group of 235 beds.
  The general policy of the board, which the board has approved in principle, is that the construction of a new hospital is not considered the best and most economical way of providing for the requirements of the area, and it has suggested that it is better to increase the number of beds at King George Hospital by additional building, and improving and extending the Barking Hospital.
  Ideally these two extensions should be done concurrently, but I am advised that during the time that the extensions were under construction at King George Hospital, it would cause considerable dislocation to the work of the hospital, and for that reason it is recommended that the extensions should commence at Barking Hospital where the space is immediately available. The work can be carried on without any dislocation of
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  existing services, and once this additional facility is provided, the work at King George Hospital can then continue without too much difficulty being experienced.
  I have said already that I personally am not in a position to judge of the merits of the two proposals—that is, the creation of new hospitals or the extension of the two existing hospitals. I am very conscious of the great local feeling that there is on this matter, which demands that some additional accommodation be made available immediately, and I emphasise that although in the long-term it would seem that a new hospital may be necessary, immediately on balance it would seem that the extensions may provide a readier solution to our difficulties.
  Once again I would emphasise that speed is of the essence of this matter, and I hope that tonight we shall have an assurance from my hon. Friend that funds will be made available for the work to commence without further delay.
  8.35 p.m.
  Mr. Somerville Hastings: I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Cooper) for bringing before the House this very important question. As the Member of Parliament for Barking, I am constantly approached by my constituents who tell me of the difficulties they have in getting into hospital. When they do get into hospital, they find that it is a long way from their homes, and many of the maternity cases have to go to the East End Maternity Hospital in Stepney, while many general cases have to go to Romford, old people have to go to the Langthorne Hospital, and so on.
  On the other hand, I am also grateful to the hon. Gentleman because, as a member of the North-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board, I can say that we have been considering this matter for a good many months. The hon. Gentleman referred to a deputation which approached the board. I was one of the representatives of the board who received that deputation. We have given a great deal of consideration to what ought to be done and to the order in which it should be done. The only difficulty, of course, is that the regional hospital board does not provide the money; only the Government can do this.
  As the hon. Gentleman pointed out with very great truth, as regards general

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  hospital beds—that is to say, hospital beds for acute and chronic cases, for specialities and maternity cases, but not for infectious diseases, tuberculosis and mental disease—there are at present provided for a quarter of a million people 346 beds. We on the regional hospital board, using ordinary standards which no one can dispute, feel that nothing less than 1,051 beds are necessary. In other words, there is a deficiency in regard to general beds for ordinary cases, excluding those categories I have mentioned, of about 700 beds.
  The question is how these beds ought to be provided. In Ilford, there is a very good hospital—the King George Hospital—and I agree with everything that the hon. Gentleman said about the splendid work that is done there. There we have 200 beds, but the site is limited. Another 100 beds could be added, and the out-patients' department, as the hon. Gentleman said, could be enlarged, and, in my opinion, sooner or later that ought to be done. Even the provision of another 100 beds still leaves us 600 beds short, and these ought to be provided somewhere.
  At Barking, quite near Upney Station, very central and very easily reached from many areas, there is the Barking Hospital, so far with only some 78 beds. But here is an area of many acres on which a large hospital could be built. We on the regional hospital board have given very great consideration to the best way of carrying this out, and, in my view and in that of a great number of my colleagues, the method to be employed should be as follows.
  At first, we should develop the facilities that are immediately available in Barking. Some wards, not of the best type, but reasonably good, are now used for other purposes, such as for recreation clinics and physiotherapy. If about forty more beds were brought into the hospital in this way they would be of very much value. Barking Hospital has practically no out-patients' department. If a large consultative out-patients' department were built in that area it would be needed sooner or later. A good many cases which now have to go to hospital might be seen there, and treatment could be provided.
  I feel very strongly that these are the first steps to take. The hon. Member
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  for Ilford, South is inclined to agree with me there. As soon as those facilities had been provided there would be beds to deal with the immediate need. Then it would be possible to add 100 beds, for which there is room on the site of King George Hospital, Ilford.
  After the immediate steps which I have described, there would still remain need for many beds. The hon. Member has suggested that 200—I think it would be nearer 600—would eventually need to be added to the small hospital which exists in Barking, the Upney Hospital. Arrangements would have to made in the very near future for the staffing of the proposed consultative out-patients' department at Barking and of the extended hospital with 110 or more beds.
  It would be much better if the staffing were carried out from the King George Hospital, Ilford. The treatment of a patient requires continuity. A patient may be treated as an out-patient for a time and may then want to go into the hospital. It would be very much better that he should go into Barking hospital or into the King George Hospital, Ilford, where a more varied type of treatment would be obtainable.
  Next is the question of nursing. Many hospitals in the North Eastern Region are understaffed, not for financial reasons, but because of the difficulty of getting nurses. A small hospital with fewer than 100 beds has difficulty in getting permission from the General Nursing Council to form a nursing school, because of the necessity to provide all the facilities and the different varieties of patient that are needed for the teaching of nurses. If a small hospital is associated with a larger hospital, for instance if the small hospital at Barking were associated with the King George Hospital, Ilford, nurses could be transferred temporarily from one to the other and the nursing difficulty would then be very much reduced.
  I have had personal experience of that in connection with the teaching hospital at Hammersmith, of which I was chairman for several years. I know that nurses can be obtained for a smaller hospital by temporary transference from a larger one. To get nurses nowadays a school is essential to which probationers may be attracted and trained because trained nurses are limited in number and difficult to obtain. I suggest that the consultative out-patients' department and the

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  extended in-patients' department at Barking should, in the first instance, be associated closely with King George Hospital, Ilford. That would provide staffing, both medical and nursing, for that hospital.
  That would be only the first step. It would help to provide for the immediate necessities, but an additional 100 beds at King George Hospital would do more. Certain adaptations could also be made in the Dagenham Hospital, which is now used for tuberculosis cases. There is less call for such accommodation and some of those beds could be used for old people, but that would be a makeshift arrangement. It is essential, sooner or later, to have many more general hospital beds, and the right place for them must surely be at the Upney Hospital site in Barking. I would not say how many are required, possibly 600, but I am hopeful that fewer will be necessary.
  If a good consultative out-patients' department is provided many more cases which otherwise would have to go into hospital might be treated at home. There is a general tendency now, where accommodation is satisfactory, to treat more people in their homes if proper facilities for nursing, home helps and medical services can be provided. More cases might be treated at home if a good out-patients' department were available. There will be plenty of time to consider that when the new hospital is started.
  No doubt a big hospital could be planned, and plans may exist for a large hospital in the Barking area, but how soon and to what extent it will be completed depend on the funds which can be made available by the Government. I feel very strongly that something should be done at once. There are a quarter of a million people with only one-third of the general hospital beds generally admitted to be needed. I appeal to the Minister to get on with the job and provide the funds necessary to make a start on this scheme so that when I go to my constituency I shall no longer hear complaints by patients that they cannot get into hospital or have to go such long distances from their homes.
  8.50 p.m.
  The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Health (Mr. Richard Thompson): When he put down this subject for the Adjourment my hon. Friend
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  the Member for Ilford, South (Mr. Cooper) informed me, in his usual courteous way, of the main heads of the matters which he proposed to raise.
  I acknowledge at once the need for further hospital provision in the area. Both the North-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and my right hon. and learned Friend are satisfied that there is need for further development of the hospital services in the Ilford and the Barking area to make good existing deficiences.
  Since both hon. Members have referred this evening to the financial aspect of the matter, I ought to say that provision has already been made in the Minister's programme of centrally financed schemes to effect essential improvements. The relevant passage in the Minister's answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds. North-East (Sir K. Joseph) on 6th December, when he announced further major schemes for which the planning is to be completed in 1959–60, was as follows:
  "I am also asking for plans to be prepared…for additional beds at Ilford or Barking, but details…have yet to be worked out with the boards concerned."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 6th December, 1957; Vol. 579, c. 85.]
  While on the subject of funds, may I say a word to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford, South, who was a little apprehensive that if it were eventually decided that the right course was the development of the existing hospitals rather than the building of a new hospital, the cost of the work might have to be found from the local resources of the board. I can assure him that that is not so. We are prepared to accept a number of developments at the existing hospitals for one scheme for inclusion in our centrally financed programme. I want to make that quite clear because I should not want him to think that there was any purely financial impediment involved in the alternative of developing the existing hospitals.
  Turning to the alternatives which faced the board, the difficulty, as my hon. Friend fairly said, is to decide whether the additional facilities needed in the area should be provided by the erection of a new hospital or by the development of existing hospitals such as Barking Hospital, King George Hospital, Ilford Isolation Hospital, Ilford Maternity Hospital and Dagenham Hospital.
  After a careful review of the available services and the future needs in Ilford and Barking, the North-East Metropolitan

  479
  Regional Hospital Board, of which the hon. Member for Barking (Mr. Hastings) is a member, have reached the conclusion that, on balance, it would be preferable to develop the existing hospitals rather than erect a new hospital. Their proposals, submitted for the Minister's consideration when he was choosing large schemes for his centrally financed programme, were based on a report by their senior administrative medical officer, to which my hon. Friend referred in his speech and about which I refreshed my mind in advance.
  They suggested developments at, first, Barking Hospital and the Ilford Isolation Hospital, and, subsequently, other Developments at Barking and at the King George Hospital, Ilford, from which some patients would have to be removed to new wards at Barking before work could begin.
  Alongside all this, as the hon. Members know, there is a site in Loxford Lane, Ilford, which for some years has been allocated for a new hospital in the county development plan. It is very important indeed that we are sure that we have the right solution to this problem before we relinquish this site, as the board has suggested we should do. It is not an easy problem to decide the best way of spending the available resources, having regard to the urgent requirements which undoubtedly exist.
  Of course, I fully accept everything that both hon. Members have said about the strong feeling in the borough that the sooner a move forward with these plans can be made the better. That is of paramount importance, and provided that were done it would not matter so much whether it was the provision of a new hospital or the development of the existing facilities. However, the regional hospital board's view, to which we have obviously to attach a lot of weight, is that on balance the advantages lie in the proposal to develop existing hospitals rather than to erect a new one.
  It would undoubtedly be many years before a new hospital could be built and the expense of such a project would be very heavy indeed. Expansion of the facilities at existing hospitals could be carried out more quickly and more economically and would provide a much
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  more rapid solution to what is admittedly an urgent problem. Against this, there would be obvious advantages to the area in having a new hospital, but as I said in a matter of this kind we must obviously attach very great weight to the views of the regional hospital board, because it has the responsibility of planning the hospital services in the area and it is in a position to take into account the considerations which have been mentioned tonight.
  Before reaching a final decision we have to consider these points. If we are to favour the adaptation of existing hospitals, we must be sure that the expansion of the existing facilities will be practicable on the available sites and that the proposed expansion will be sufficient to meet the need. We are now awaiting further information which the board has promised us, and when we receive this we propose to inspect certain of the hospital sites in conjunction with the board.
  May I sum up on this note? My right hon. and learned Friend has not so far reached a final decision in this matter. He is awaiting further information from the board about its proposals. When he receives it, he will have to weigh the arguments for developing existing hospitals against those for building a new one, but I must point out that an entirely new hospital could not possibly be completed for a very considerable time.
  One of the factors that will have to be considered is, what is the best way to meet this urgent need? I am sure that the view that my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Barking have expressed this evening will be taken into full account by my right hon. and learned Friend when he makes this decision in the near future. The undoubted need of the borough for additional beds is fully understood.
  I have said a word about the financial question, which I hope will be comforting to my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford, South, and I can assure him that, as far as lies in our power, we will lose no time in pressing on with the decision on which plans must be based.
  Question put and agreed to.
  Adjourned accordingly at two minutes to Nine o'clock.

ROYAL AIR FORCE
  Disused Airfield, Fife
  Disused Airfield, Fife
  Leuchars Airfield (Civil Aircraft)
  Leuchars Airfield (Civil Aircraft)
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
  Pay and Conditions and National Service
  Pay and Conditions and National Service
  United States Aircraft (Hydrogen Bombs)
  United States Aircraft (Hydrogen Bombs)
  Widows' Pensions
  Widows' Pensions
  Royal Air Force Stations (Ballistic Missiles)
  Royal Air Force Stations (Ballistic Missiles)
  Expenditure
  Expenditure
  COUNCIL OF EUROPE RECOMMENDATIONS
  COUNCIL OF EUROPE RECOMMENDATIONS
  SUEZ CANAL (CLEARANCE COSTS)
  SUEZ CANAL (CLEARANCE COSTS)
EMPLOYMENT
  Retired Officers (Resettlement Advisory Board)
  Retired Officers (Resettlement Advisory Board)
  Young Persons, Portsmouth
  Young Persons, Portsmouth
  School-Leavers (National Joint Advisory Council's Report)
  School-Leavers (National Joint Advisory Council's Report)
  Borough Employment Exchange
  Borough Employment Exchange
ROYAL NAVY
  Her Majesty's Dockyards (Apprentices)
  Her Majesty's Dockyards (Apprentices)
BRITISH ARMY
  Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Highland Light Infantry
  Royal Scots Fusiliers and the Highland Light Infantry
  Royal Artillery Depot, Woolwich (Catering)
  Royal Artillery Depot, Woolwich (Catering)
  Driver D. J. McCallum (Court-Martial)
  Driver D. J. McCallum (Court-Martial)
TELEPHONE SERVICE
  Harrogate (Storm Damage)
  Harrogate (Storm Damage)
POST OFFICE
  Empire Games (Commemorative Stamps)
  Empire Games (Commemorative Stamps)
  Ley Hill Estate, Northfield (Facilities)
  Ley Hill Estate, Northfield (Facilities)
  Annual Licences (Renewal)
  Annual Licences (Renewal)
  Mail and Telegrams, Epsom (Complaints)
  Mail and Telegrams, Epsom (Complaints)
TELEVISION
  Reception (Skegness and Marston)
  Reception (Skegness and Marston)
MINISTRY OF SUPPLY
  Princess Flying Boats
  Princess Flying Boats
AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD
  Farm Improvement Scheme
  Farm Improvement Scheme
  Horticultural Marketing
  Horticultural Marketing
  Agricultural Subsidies
  Agricultural Subsidies
HOSPITALS
  In-Patient Beds (Cost)
  In-Patient Beds (Cost)
  Staffs (Influenza)
  Staffs (Influenza)
  Stoke-on-Trent (Electric Power)
  Stoke-on-Trent (Electric Power)
  Ear, Nose and Throat Hospitals (Waiting Lists)
  Ear, Nose and Throat Hospitals (Waiting Lists)
NATIONAL FINANCE
  Civil Service Pay (Changes of Sex)
  Civil Service Pay (Changes of Sex)
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
  Cancer of the Lung
  Cancer of the Lung
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
  Compulsory Purchase Orders
  Compulsory Purchase Orders
PENSIONS AND NATIONAL INSURANCE
  Women Workers (Abortions)
  Women Workers (Abortions)
TRADE AND COMMERCE
  Anti-Dumping Duties
  Anti-Dumping Duties
SCOTLAND
  Member's Letter
  Member's Letter
  Murders
  Murders
  Crimes of Violence
  Crimes of Violence
Preamble
The House met at half past two of the clock, The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
Prayers
  LORD MOORE
  Charles Garrett Ponsonby, Earl of Drogheda, in the Peerage of Ireland, having succeeded to the Barony of Moore, of Cobham in the County of Surrey, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, conferred on his father by Letters Patent bearing date the 30th day of January, 1954—Was (in the usual manner) introduced, his father never having taken his seat as Lord Moore.
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE STALY BRIDGE AND DUKINFIELD (DIS TRICT) WATERWORKS BILL [H.L.]
Read 2a.
BLACKPOOL CORPORATION BILL [H.L.]
Read 2a.
COVENTRY CORPORATION BILL [H.L.]
Read 2a.

ALCOHOL AND ROAD ACCIDENTS
2.46 p.m.
LORD MATHERS: My Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
[The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a statement can now be made regarding drink in road accidents as the outcome of the report made by the Medical Research Board and the Road Research Board, showing what were the findings of the Committee and what action is contemplated as the result of the Committee's findings.]
THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE: My Lords, it is hoped that the report on the experimental work on the effect of alcohol on the skill of drivers of motor
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vehicles will very shortly be available to the joint Committee appointed by the Medical Research Council and the Road Research Board, under whose auspices the work has been carried out. The Government will consider the Report in the light of the Committee's recommendations.
LORD MATHERS: My Lords, may I ask the noble Marquess to whom this Question has now been bequeathed after many months whether he is aware of the anxiety which is being caused to a number of people who are interested in this subject by the delay in dealing with it. And may I ask whether it is not possible for something to be done to accelerate matters?
THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE: My Lords, I should like to help the noble Lord in this matter, and perhaps I am able to do so. It is hoped that this Report will be available within a very few weeks. There have been certain difficulties, which perhaps were not referred to in previous replies Some of the analyses of part of the data have given equivocal results and for that reason still further research work has had to be done. As noble Lords are well aware—I believe the noble Lord, Lord Mathers, in particular—this branch of research has been going on since 1952 and is likely to continue for some years. It is a branch of original research and, as I believe my noble friend Lord Mancroft has already pointed out to the noble Lord, Lord Mathers, research work cannot be confined within a rigid timetable. That is just not possible. I may assure noble Lords, however, that Her Majesty's Government are doing everything possible to see that this work is brought to a satisfactory conclusion and the Report presented within a few weeks. I hope that that will satisfy the noble Lord.
LORD AMMON: My Lords, might I ask the noble Marquess whether special attention is being given to the alarming number of young people—those under eighteen years of age—who have suffered from alcoholism, and to the cause of this trouble?
THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNE: My Lords, it would, I think, be improper for me to anticipate the contents of the Report, but, as has already been said, the Report will be published.
LORD MATHERS: My Lords, may I thank the noble Marquess for the most sympathetic reply that I have had up to date. I look forward to the even more definite expression of that sympathy.

POST OFFICE AND TELEGRAPH (MONEY) BILL
Brought from the Commons, endorsed with the Certificate of the Speaker that the Bill is a Money Bill within the meaning of the Parliament Act, 1911 read 1a, and to be printed.

ARAB-ISRAELI TENSION
2.50 p.m.
LORD BIRDWOOD LORD BIRDWOOD rose to draw the attention of Her Majesty's Government to continued tension on the Arab-Israeli frontiers; to urge that Her Majesty's Government press for a settlement of the Arab refugee problem as an indispensable contribution to political settlement in the area; and to move for Papers. The noble Lord said: My Lords, in the past when we have debated the Middle East we have endeavoured to cover an area from the Persian Gulf up to the Atlantic, attempting perhaps too much, and have come to too little conclusion. I thought that this afternoon it would serve a useful purpose if I tried to narrow the terms. It is very tempting indeed to gather in the strands of all sorts of matters; I myself have been much tempted within the last few days to draw in such matters as an Afro-Asian conference, an Egyptian-Syrian process of union, and, indeed, to give priority to the prospect of the Middle East being turned into an unhappy hunting ground as between the Soviet and Western Powers. I feel, however, that the heart and core of this problem is still the continued tension—the age-old problem—between the Arab and the Jew, and for that reason I have narrowed the terms of reference. So often as it seems in international affairs there is a key situation; and as I see it this is the perfect example.
I should like to make two points in introduction. The first point is this: that whenever this matter is discussed, those who argue are usually labelled (to put it crudely but effectively) as either "pro-Arab" or "pro-Jew". I am one
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who, I believe, is usually labelled "pro-Jew"—I should say "pro-Arab", but, if so, I would stress that I have come to my conclusions after some study of history, and, indeed, on that study of history alone. It is no satisfaction to me whatsoever to find myself opposed to many of your Lordships for whose views I have the greatest respect. I think particularly of the noble Viscount, Lord Samuel, who is not here to-day and who, quite obviously, would hold views very different from mine.
If you are one who believes, as I do, that the Balfour Declaration was a disaster, you cannot possibly agree with those who are inclined to regard it as an enlightened stroke of statesmanship. You may say that such matters as the Balfour Declaration and the conflicting pledges implicit in such things as the McMahon-Hussein correspondence at the time were all a very long time ago, and that what matters to-day is only the existence of Israel and the refusal of the Arabs to recognise its existence. The difficulty is, I think, that in the Arab world, from the leaders down to the 1958 students in the universities, they all know that past history and they all are prepared to quote its details—sometimes its inconvenient details. For that reason I regard some knowledge of past history as essential to an understanding of this problem. Nevertheless, I am attempting this afternoon an objective approach, hoping to put forward for Her Majesty's Government's consideration and comment certain points and suggestions.
That leads me to my second point, and that is that in advocating a particular policy or plan the last thing I have in mind is that Her Majesty's Government should thump the table and in strident tones assert that this or that policy must or must not be pursued. That sort of talk would surely make sense only if there were a Power or a group of Powers which would be prepared to enforce or to impose a settlement on the Middle East. To-day, as I see it, there is only one power which could, if it were so minded, impose a settlement, and that is the United Nations. But if that be true, there is surely a lot left over for a Western Power of good will and some experience to achieve. It has been said, rightly I think, that whereas on a governmental level this country is regarded

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with suspicion in the Middle East, mainly through the harsh circumstances which have saddled us with heavy responsibilities during these past years, there are in contrast the plain individual relationships and personal contacts, and there is much left over to be turned to account; and, if that is so, I see no reason why we should despair of being able to advise, to suggest, to negotiate, and to use all the resources of diplomacy, and, indeed, lead in putting the resources of diplomacy to account, not forgetting always that, after all, we can claim a greater experience of the Middle East than any other Western Power.
Before we come to the heart of the problem, I think we should do well to set clearly before us what are our requirements in the Middle East to-day: what is the goal of policy. In past centuries all we ever asked of the Middle East was the ability to pass through without hindrance, in freedom, to communicate and trade with our family, whether with Empire or Commonwealth. further to the East—not a very exacting requirement. To-day, could be added the desire to see the transit and shipment of oil out of the area, without hindrance. Mr. Khrushchev has referred to it as imperialist rapacity for Middle East oil; in fact, it is a perfectly normal and natural requirement. To that might be added, as a modern development, our commitments under the Baghdad Pact. But here I would say that perhaps Cyprus is more involved than is the area of Arab-Israeli tension, although that Arab-Israeli tension will always exercise its oblique influence on any such situation.
The point I would make is that in our anxiety to see this Arab-Israeli problem solved we should make clear the legitimate extent of our interests to Israel, to the Arabs and, indeed, to a watching, suspicious world outside. There is nothing whatsoever of which to be ashamed, nothing whatsoever to hide. We are accused in certain quarters of economic exploitation. It is quite true that we are unable to offer loans at 21 per cent.; and, of course, the truth is that we do not employ slave labour at home and are therefore in no position to compete with those who do employ such methods.
What can be our reply to all these malicious charges? It is not an easy
250
question at all. I think we have to continue to remind the world of the simplicity, even the monotony, of our requirements of the Middle East, and that is something to do with the information services; but beyond that I suggest that we have to do a certain amount of long-term re-thinking of our relationship with some of these countries, basing that relationship on a new approach, not so much against the danger of Communism as towards a new faith and hope and belief in the intrinsic values which we have to offer to those countries.
My Lords, I should now like to attempt some analysis of this rather terrifying picture—as I see it, a competition in hatreds. I regard the basic proposal from which argument can stem as still the United Nations decision of November 29, 1947, to partition Palestine into a Jewish State and an Arab State, leaving Jerusalem as an international enclave. There was a minority proposal to create a Federal State, with Jerusalem as the federal capital, and I do not think that that proposal should be overlooked. At the time, the Jewish Agency accepted the partition plan and the Arabs resolutely refused it. In regretting that refusal to-day, the Arabs would, I think, maintain that they hoped at the time to reoccupy the whole of the land which they regarded as their birthright. If, subsequently, it has become a case of half a loaf or nothing at all, they not unnaturally seek to restate their claim to the half-loaf which they had previously refused.
Many shades of controversy have intervened since 1947, but hitherto no agency has been able to evolve a method of negotiation, let alone agree on the problem to be negotiated. It may be useful, therefore, if for a moment I touch on the prospects of various methods of negotiation. Your Lordships will remember that in 1948 a mediator, Count Bernadotte, was appointed. He was assassinated in September of that year, and the day before he met his end he left behind a proposal for setting up a Conciliation Commission. That Commission was set up in December, 1948, and it still stands to-day. It consists of Turkey, the United States and France. For several years it has not been able to achieve much more than collect a certain amount

251
of data about refugee problems. I shall return to that matter in a moment.
I should like to examine the attitude of the Arabs and Israel to negotiation. I think it is fair to say that Israel has always been, and still is, prepared to sit round a table with the Arabs to discuss their political future together. In contrast, the Arabs have always emphatically refused to do so. My view is that the Arabs sense that they might be out-pointed in negotiations with people who are quick thinkers and nimble debaters and who have a greater sense of the technique of influencing international public opinion than they have. There is also the point that, if you negotiate, presumably you give official recognition to the party with whom you negotiate; and no Arab has yet come to that stage, any more than the United States have come to the point of recognising Communist China. Nor it seems, unfortunately, are the Arabs yet prepared to submit the whole matter to the United Nations. On September 4 last year, the Arab League Council noted a situation referred to as
"foreign attempts to submit the case of Palestine to the General Assembly".
and resolved to adopt a united stand to frustrate those attempts. That, I believe, remains the position to-day.
One searches, therefore, for some machinery which might bridge this gap of negotiation, and not unnaturally my mind returns to the Conciliation Commission. Obviously, it would have to be reconstituted. France, for obvious reasons, would not be acceptable to the Arab world. Turkey might be regarded as unacceptable to Syria and, on the other side, probably to Israel. The United States are too deeply committed in both camps. But what about the professional mediators? What about Sweden? What about an Asian country, with which I believe Israel has now some association—Burma? What about the prospects of the right individual being found, apart from the nation to which he belonged? Whatever the alternatives, I suggest that the goal should be to restore flexibility to a situation which has become fixed and which, as I see it, is now a sore which will never heal without definite and positive treatment. We may even resort to that familiar machinery by
252
which either side puts up a nominee, and a neutral Chairman is chosen or accepted.
There is, however, one obvious frustration which always faces the would-be mediator. With whom, on the Arab side, would be mediate? We all know well enough the dissensions and jealousies which sear the Arab world to-day. It is a situation which demands our sympathy and understanding, rather than our ridicule. If any Arab State to-day felt inclined to negotiate directly with Israel it would not dare to do so, because it would fear the ostracism of all its neighbours. Any Arab Prime Minister who attempted direct negotiation might well risk his life. In those circumstances, it is tempting to take the view that perhaps the best thing to do is to do nothing—masterly inactivity—in the hope that time will heal.
There is some encouragement to that view to-day in that the United Nations Emergency Force, which at first we are all inclined to ignore is proving a fairly effectual specimen of a six-pound baby. Since its deployment in the Gaza Strip and down the Egyptian-Israel frontier, there has been no incident; and what is significant is that neither Egypt nor Israel has yet asked for its removal. In the circumstances, might it not be well to let well alone? If, by chance, the Arabs are weary of this whole business, it would not assist a settlement to broaden the ground, so to speak. Might not such a step result in fanning a fire which is dying out? I have the greatest sympathy with that kind of approach, and I might agree—but for one factor. That is, that so long as the situation remains unresolved there is a point of detonation, ready for the Soviet to light; and on their past record they would have no hesitation in setting the fuse whenever it suited them. Against that background I should like to suggest certain preconditions for a settlement.
The first is some real compromise on frontiers, together with a guarantee against further Israel expansion. The second, which is vital to the issue, is an understanding about the fate of the refugees. The last authoritative statement on frontiers from the British Government which I can trace was Sir Anthony Eden's Guildhall speech in December, 1955, when he indicated that

253
we should welcome a measure of corn-promise between the frontier of the United Nations partition scheme of 1947 and the present Armistice frontier. A compromise on the external frontier of 1947 (I particularly say "external" because I assume that Sir Anthony Eden meant the external frontier of 1947, bearing in mind that there are a number of internal frontiers as well) would mean some return of land by Israel to the Arabs; and that Israel has hitherto resolutely refused. There will be no settlement of this problem without the unpleasant acceptance of unpalatable conditions by both parties. If the Arabs renounce their declared intention of driving the Israelis into the sea, then Israel, in her own interests, must make certain adjustments in favour of Jordan. It would also be wise if, at the same time, they renounced their intention of territorial expansion.
Certain statements have been made. The last one I can trace is that of Mrs. Golda Mayer, the Israeli Foreign Minister, in a radio broadcast programme last March. She said this:
"Not only have we no aspirations for any territorial expansion, but we have said over and over again that we are prepared to sit down with our neighbours, come to a peaceful settlement and give any guarantee that the United Nations will ask of us so that we will not expand territorial-wise."
When asked if that was a firm pledge, she replied: "An absolutely firm pledge." That might be good enough for many of us, but it was only a radio broadcast and not an official Governmental declaration. As such, it has not been enough to restore confidence in the Middle East.
I should like to say why I think it has not been enough. So long as the declared Israeli policy is to welcome in every one of the Jewish race who wants to return to Palestine, very few Arabs will be able to believe that in fact the Israeli policy is not to expand. Mr. Ben-Gurion, in his last speech to the Knesset, emphasised that the policy to welcome them all in is still there on the Statute Book. I would go further and say that, so long as the Western Powers have nothing to say on this matter and remain silent, no Arab will believe that, in fact, the Western policy is not behind further Israeli expansion and that Western policy is not to give it tacit support. There, then, as I see them, are the prerequisites to nego-
254
tiation: an understanding on an adjustment of frontiers, coupled with a guarantee of no further Israeli expansion.
But before ever frontiers can be discussed, we must do something about the social wound of 900,000 refugees. That wound must be healed. I would go so far as to say that, if that scar could be removed from the Middle East, who knows but that simpler and kinder solutions of the political problem would emerge, and some of the processes I have been suggesting might even prove quite unnecessary? Other noble Lords will be drawing attention to the refugees problem, and T shall give only a bare outline of the situation to-day. There are 930,000 refugees, of whom 520.000 are in Jordan. Some 414,000—nearly one-half—are under the age of fifteen., and about 20,000 babies are born in the camps every year. I calculate that some 200,000 refugees have been born into a refugee status without ever knowing the dignity or meaning of a home or State of their own.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency was set up in December, 1949; and, in complete optimism, it was voted in by the General Assembly for just one year. It is because no one has yet been able to convey a sense of the long-term commitment that that Agency to-day faces an all-round reduction of its work which, if implemented, can only be completely disastrous. Every year a pledging conference is held, and the nations come forward and pledge their contributions. The expenditure is divided into a "relief.' budget and a "rehabilitation" budget. The former is bare subsistence, and works out at about £15 per refugee per year. The rehabilitation side of the programme—and it is a, travesty of the name—is mainly concerned with education. The Agency emphasises that education is the only means by which a refugee can hope to compete on level terms with the local population; and therefore education represents an oasis in a kind of social wilderness.
Yet what do we find to-day. On October 31 last, some two and a half months ago, only twenty-three Governments had pledged some 14 million dollars of a 26 million dollars relief budget that is required. Therefore, unless a miracle is achieved, the whole of the rehabilitation budget will have to be scrapped and

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passed over to relief, and that means that about 160,000 children will be thrown out of school and will become lost, idle, drifting units of humanity, useless either to themeselves or to the community.
In the past, the United States has voted some 70 per cent, of the total budget; we have provided some 20 per cent.; twenty-nine other countries have produced the balance, while fifty Governments have supplied nothing at all. It cannot be repeated too often that the great Soviet Union, posing as the champion and patron of suffering Pan-Arabism, has never contributed one penny to the relief of Arab refugees. If we can achieve nothing else, at least we should strive to raise the conscience of the world to face its duty. Imagine the situation—and I am informed that it is not impossible—if that United Nations Emergency Force were called upon, not to control an act of aggression but to protect the workers of the Relief Agency, who would have to face the bitter hatred of some thousands of refugees because they had to deprive them of the measures which they expected to receive towards their education in order to implement what would be outrageously anti-social measures.
I submit that there are certain lines of action which Her Majesty's Government could support. The first is that international financial assistance should be forthcoming on a far greater and more imaginative scale, enough to make settlement not a doubtful proposition but a most attractive one. If we trace this whole problem back to its beginnings, it can be found not in Arab intransigence, not in Israeli ambition, but in anti-Semitism in Christian countries all over the world. If there is any truth in that, the least the Christian world can do is to dip its hand into its pocket and produce the money. If to that could be added an imaginative effort by Israel to take in refugees—100,000 refugees has been suggested in the past, but it has been dropped—if they would renew the offer to take back 100,000 refugees, then at least the climate would be healthy for a settlement. An important factor is the form in which proposals are put for a refugee's return. At present, so far as I can make out, he is asked only the one question: "Do you wish to return to Israel, or do you wish to stay in your camp?" Put in that form, there is only one answer. But suppose
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that, through a conciliation commission or the right individual mediator, the question could be phrased differently and put in the form: "Do you wish to return to Israel, or are you prepared to settle in an Arab country?" Then, perhaps, there would be a somewhat different answer in many cases.
Then, the question arises as to what the Arabs mean when they press for the return of Arabs to Israel. Do they thereby imply that those returning should now, in fact, accept the Israeli political State? The first resolution on this matter was a resolution of the United Nations on December 11, 1948, which referred to refugees being allowed to return to their homes and to live at peace with their neighbours. Those choosing not to return were to be given compensation for the property they left behind. So far as I am aware, no compensation has yet been forthcoming for any property left behind; and that is exactly where international assistance, harnessed behind Israeli assistance and intention, could be useful. But, for the sake of argument, supposing that 100,000 refugees were allowed to return to Israel, as I see it a double obligation would arise. First, there would be an obligation on the refugees to live at peace with their neighbours; and secondly, there would be an obligation on Israel to create the conditions which would warrant the refugees living at peace with their neighbours.
Finally, I think we are entitled to turn to Arab leadership and ask them if they can think out what is the best policy in their own interest. The family of nations, surely, will never move forward to better times except on a basis of justice for all. Equally so, there can be no progress based only on the proposition of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." Arabs speak with great emotion of their lost unity. They look back nostalgically to the days when, as they see it, Arabs governed the Mediterranean world in such matters as astronomy, algebra, navigation and architecture. I think we can say to them: Is it yet too late? Must a unity of worth and permanence always await an Arab-Israeli settlement? Are there not now opportunities to display to the world the nature of the only unity that matters, and that is a unity not based on sharing out a common hatred but on an agreement, possibly all contributing together to social, economic and cultural advance?
Here, in the misery of a million refugees, might be the opportunity, the chance, to turn human suffering to human opportunity. An Arab industrialist has put forward a plan whereby Governments of oil-bearing countries and oil companies would together set aside 5 per cent. of their profits and put them into a Middle East development bank. Without having another careful look at the proposal and knowing its details, one could not possibly say whether it is feasible or not. But harness the idea behind the proposal to the social stagnation in the refugee camps and there, as I see it, is the horizon of an Arab renaissance which could yet win the admiration and respect of the whole world.
I have sought only to discover what Her Majesty's Government's approach might be to all these great problems: to frontier revision, to compensation, international or otherwise, to refugees and to refugee settlement. If the noble Earl in his reply cares to cover wider ground and draw attention to certain situations in the Middle East due to Communist interests, I am sure we should all be grateful. I will go further, and say that if, with the fuller information available to Her Majesty's Government, the noble Earl can persuade us that the wisest thing is to wait upon events, then we shall accept that. I would hope that our debate will demonstrate always our continued interest and our continued power to influence, which is something different from either interference or indifference. The extent of that interest and that influence we shall be better able to judge when we have heard the noble Earl's reply. I beg to move for Papers.
3.24 p.m.
LORD SILKIN: My Lords, the noble Lord, in moving this Motion, has rendered a double service to the House. In the first place, it is right that this House should constantly have before it the terrible plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees who are sitting and literally rotting away with virtually no hope, and living in the most terrible conditions. It is a stain on the civilisation of the whole world that this should continue, and it is right that it should be constantly before us and that we should not rest until this matter is settled.
The noble Lord has rendered another service, and that is that he has put his
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case, as he said he would—with all the prejudice that I know he has in this matter—in an objective manner, in a capable manner and in a comprehensive manner. We all are grateful to him for putting his case in the way that he did. He referred to the narrowness of the terms of the Motion before the House, and said that he would not stray from it. He did not very much, but he did occasionally. I can forgive him for that, because his speech was so good.
Of course, the noble Lord differs fundamentally from a number of us in regard to the Balfour Declaration as the cause of the disaster. True, it was over forty years ago, and we have acted on it. We have had the British Mandate in Palestine. In my view, and I hope in the view of a great many people, the Balfour Declaration was a great act of statesmanship, and the whole world should be grateful for that Declaration, even though it has brought about a certain amount of difficulty, which I hope in due course will be surmounted. The noble Lord smiles at that statement, and I do not wish to debate that at this moment because that would be going outside the terms of this Motion. But I should be happy to debate the Balfour Declaration with anybody in this House, and I hope I should be able to convince most reasonably-minded people that it was one of the finest things that this country has done.
LORD BIRDWOOD: Would the noble Lord recall that the Balfour Declaration was at the time opposed by the only Jew in the Cabinet?
LORD SILKIN: I will recall that, certainly. I do not think it really affects my statement, because there were a great many others who were in favour of it.
Looking at the terms of the Motion, I think it is one with which every Member of the House could agree, and there need be little said about it. But, of course, one not only has to agree with the Motion: one has to put forward proposals upon which there would be some hope of a settlement between the parties. I was glad to find that, in spite of the noble Lord's objection to the Balfour Declaration, nevertheless he does, by implication, accept the fact that the Israeli State is in existence and cannot be swept into the sea. Somehow we have to put up with it, for better or for worse,

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and deal with the situation as we find it to-day. This country is, of course, committed under its various declarations to seeing that the security of the Israeli State, as well as of the Arab States, is maintained. I do not want to follow the noble Lord through all the various paths which he trod, with many of which I agree. I should like to say just a few words on some aspects of his speech.
The ideal thing would be if the parties could be got together to talk. But I have never found that you can get satisfactory conversations by one side to a discussion laying down in advance conditions upon which it will talk. That is always a mistake in negotiation, and it does not get you anywhere because you can spend as much time and create as much difference on the conditions upon which you are going to negotiate as upon the negotiations themselves. Therefore, I would not agree with the noble Lord that it would be wise to say upon what terms the parties should get together. For instance, he referred to the partition frontiers of 1947, and suggested that as a condition of negotiation the Israelis should accept them broadly. Well, a good deal has happened since 1947, and as he himself quite properly pointed out, those frontiers were not accepted by the Arab States. Instead of accepting them they decided to attack the Israelis with the object of driving them into the sea. They failed, and eventually the United Nations agreed upon a new provisional frontier—that is, the armistice frontier. That was in 1948. Since then a new refugee problem has been created by the fact that the Arab States have made life so intolerable to the Jewish citizens in those States that between 400,000 and 450.000 of them have been obliged to go to Israel and have been accepted by Israel. That is a factor which must be borne in mind in this matter.
Furthermore, from other parts of the world—and not because people have desired to settle in Israel for their health, but because in their own countries, other than the Arab States, life has been made intolerable (and these people include a considerable number from Poland, the Soviet Union and other countries)—about half a million have also been found accommodation in Israel. It would be unthinkable to-day, therefore, that, with the addition of something like 900,000 or
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1 million refugees who have come to settle in the State of Israel since 1948, they should go back to frontiers which even at that time they found it difficult to regard as viable but which they nevertheless accepted. Moreover a vast amount of effort has been made in cultivating the land, in developing it and in making it suitable for the increased number of residents in Israel. There were at the time of the partition proposal something like 900.000 to 1 million population. To-day it is getting on for 2 millions. Therefore to say in advance that Israel must go back to the frontiers of 1947 seems to me quite unrealistic.
LORD BIRDWOOD: I did not say we should go back to the 1947 frontiers. I think I said that we should do well to have a look at the advice of Sir Anthony Eden, which was that there should be a compromise between the 1947 frontiers and the present frontiers.
LORD SILKIN: My own recollection was that Sir Anthony Eden did not go so far as that. He said that the 1947 frontiers should be the basis of negotiations, and I took that to mean that broadly speaking they were to be the frontiers; there might be a certain amount of give and take in the matter, certain adjustments, but that should be the territory of the State of Israel. But even if the noble Lord is right, I would say it is a mistake to lay down in advance that a certain frontier, certain territory, should be one of the subjects for negotiation. Then the noble Lord referred to the question of refugees. He said that there were 900,000 of them. I think that is a considerable overstatement.
LORD BIRDWOOD: 930,000.
LORD SILKIN: That is an even greater overstatement, in my opinion. As I understand it, the total number of refugees who left Israel in 1948 was 700,000, and, taking the noble Lord's own figures of an increase in population of 20,000 a year, in ten years that would bring it up to 900,000. But the noble Lord has omitted two factors. One is that deaths do occur. Not only is infant mortality very high, but older people do die off. To what extent that reduces the figure I could not say, but it would be quite substantial. The other factor is that, in spite of what has been said, a considerable number of those refugees

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have been absorbed in the territories to which they have gone. Quite a number of them are actually at work, and although that is not reflected in the number of ration cards issued by U.N.R.W.A., who I am told are actually issuing ration cards in respect of people who have been long dead because the death has not been notified and in respect of others who are actually at work, nevertheless the fact remains that the number is about 700,000. That is by the way. It does not detract from the fundamentals of the case.
The noble Lord made a number of suggestions as to what could be done by Israel to help in the discussions. He suggested that they might give a guarantee against further Israeli expansion. Well, he himself quoted a statement made by the Foreign Secretary of Israel, which was made with full authority, as he said. I am not in a position to speak for the Israeli Government or any other Government. but, in my view, that statement having been made there would be no difficulty at all in getting it further clarified, if clarification is necessary, or in getting any guarantees that would be reasonable against any possible expansion in the future. He referred to the fact that it was the declared policy of Israel to accept every Jew who wanted to go to the country; but as the frontiers are to-day, Israel is capable of absorbing in due course, as the area is developed, a total of about 4 million people—that is another 2 million—and it is quite unlikely that as many as that would desire to go to Israel, because in the main the population consists of people who are being virtually expelled from their own countries. So there need he no fear on the part of the Arab States that Israel would be driven by need to seek further land for expansion. The existing territory, subject to mutually convenient adjustments, would appear to be a viable State with which I think they would be content; and therefore the guarantee could safely be given.
He referred to the suggestion that they might take back 100,000 refugees. I believe he also said that they had expressed their willingness to do so at some time. If that is so, there need be no difficulty about it. I understood the policy of the Arab States was that Israel should absorb all the refugees. If that were the case it would, of course, be unthinkable. Israel would not—nor would
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any State—wish to accept so large a number of people who are alien to them by race, religion, outlook and in every other way, as to virtually constitute a fifth column in their territory. A population of, as the noble Lord says, 930,000 people or, as I say, 700,000, with that outlook, would create serious problems for them. The noble Lord was quite moderate in the way in which he put his case. If 100.000 was the number suggested I should say there would be no difficulty at all.
LORD BIRDWOOD: I do not want to keep on interrupting the noble Lord, but I think the offer of 100,000 was withdrawn. That was an offer to take in 100,000, and that offer the Israel Government then withdrew. The 930,000 is the official figure of the United Nations Agency, in their Report. I do not want to suggest that that total should go back to Israel, but that a token offer should be made to create the climate for the settlement of refugees.
LORD SILKIN: Yes, I appreciate that. Whether or not, for technical reasons or otherwise, the offer was withdrawn, and up to the moment the climate has not been favourable to the making of offers on one side, because the Arabs have indicated, by their conduct and by their general outlook, that they are not interested in offers to negotiate. But that that sort of discussion would be helpful there is no doubt. And the same applies to compensation. Of course the Israeli Government must pay compensation to those refugees who left land and property behind. So far as I know, they have been perfectly willing to do so. But, of course, it takes two to enter into negotiations. If only the two sides could be brought round a table, in my view there would be no difficulty in their arriving at a reasonable settlement, provided always that the existence of Israel as a State was accepted and that they decided to live at peace and in harmony with one another. I agree that the question of refugees has still to be dealt with.
The Motion refers to action that we might take. Unfortunately, we ourselves, as a nation, are not in a very strong position to take action alone. Obviously, if we tried to enter the Middle East as negotiators we might well suffer the fate of any uninvited arbitrator, that of being

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kicked by both sides. I am quite sure that any settlement must be arrived at by the United Nations, and I think there is a good deal to be said for the Conciliation Commission to which the noble Lord referred; and it seems to me that the composition he suggested would be an admirable one. I only hope that the suggestion will be acceptable to all sides. We have made our financial contribution to the refugees; but it really is not good enough to keep these people constantly, for ever, in a state of idleness, merely harbouring their grievances, or alleged grievances, and, as the years go by, becoming more and more bitter. The fact is that, as time goes on, a greater and greater proportion of the refugees will have no real desire to return to Israel, because they will not have known Israel. Even as it is at this moment, the proportion of refugees who have any recollection at all of Israel is less than half, and that position gets worse every day.
The noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, did not suggest one obvious method of dealing with the refugee problem, which is to persuade the Arab States somehow to integrate. They can easily do so. With the exception of Jordan, which has a high proportion of its population to-day as refugees—I think over half—the percentage of refugees in the other Arab States is quite small. Arab territory is about one hundred times as great as Israeli territory, and many of the Arab States are greatly in need of development. With their increased revenues they could quite easily absorb the refugees, if they desired to do so. But the fact is that they do not desire to do so—and it is not because they cannot. They would be given every assistance by the United States and ourselves, and by the other nations who are desirous of solving this problem; they would be given every financial assistance to help resettle the refugees.
The fact is that so long as these refugees exist they are a political weapon in the hands of the Arabs—something they can point to as a consequence of the setting up of the State of Israel. These miserable refugees are being used just as a pawn in a political game. If only that attitude could be changed, if there were a genuine desire to solve this problem by all parties, there is no reason at
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all why it should not be solved to-morrow. After all, there have been greater refugee problems since the war. They have been reasonably well solved. The refugees from India and Pakistan, the refugees from Russia—the Finns, and various other refugees have all been quietly settled, and nobody hears anything about them. It is only these people who are being used for purposes in which the welfare of the refugees plays no part, who are not only causing misery to themselves but creating a threat to the peace of the world. I do not know what we can do except to use such influence as we have in the United Nations, with the Arab States and with Israel, and persevere to see what can be done. I shall be most interested to hear what the noble Earl has to say.
Perhaps these are straws in the wind, but in my own small experience there have been two matters on which I should like to comment. One is that I am told that on the frontiers where one would expect constant violence and friction, the guards on each side meet every day and have coffee together. It is not a big thing, but it is an indication that there is not a great deal of hostility between the common people—that this is, to some extent, a manufactured hostility. The other is my own small experience of receiving here, at the time of the Boy Scout Jamboree, a number of scouts from Israel. There were something like thirty or them, boys and girls, who came to this House. My wife and I took them round, and we gave them some refreshment. They were most interested and asked most intelligent questions.
Then we found that the majority of these scouts were not Jews at all. They consisted of Arab, Christian and Druse children and representatives of all sections of the population. To me that was an encouraging sign. The young people can get on together. Looking at them and talking to them one could not distinguish to which particular race they belonged. They were all very happy together and got on well. These, as I say, are straws in the wind.
I do not myself believe that the hostility which exists is typical of the peoples of the Arab and Jewish world. I believe that if they were left to themselves, without the influence of Governments, a settlement could be arranged; and one can only hope that, as time goes on, the

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voice of the people will be heard in the Arab States and, so far as is necessary, in the Jewish State, and that a settlement of this running sore will be arrived at in a peaceful manner.
3.52 p.m.
LORD THURLOW: My Lords, I am sure we are all grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, for giving us the opportunity of discussing this subject today. From his speech and the fine and mast restrained speech of the noble Lord, Lord Silkin, I feel that if we could leave this problem to those two noble Lords to settle, we should get somewhere. It is a great pity that there are so many people concerned who do not look at it with the sympathy which both those noble Lords show. I am one of the two lay members of your Lordships' House who is on the Council of the Jerusalem and East Mission which is responsible in England for the running of the great arch-diocese of Jerusalem, and our organisation, which is part of the World Council of Churches, has subscribed no less than 8 million dollars a year towards the refugees and everything to do with their relief and rehabilitation. Also, like a number of your Lordships, I am a member of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem which has done much fine work out there since these events occurred.
I want to call attention to some further points about the existing situation and, if your Lordships will bear with me, to make one or two quotations from the reports of that very great mean, Mr. Henri Labouisse, who is the administrator of the refugee organisation, the Relief and Works Agencies for Palestine Refugees in the Near East—U.N.R.W.A. We must remember that these refugees are a normal cross-section of the community. The majority are small farmers and business men, civil servants, artisans and so on; and the minority are large property owners and other civil servants. Many of them are old friends of mine from the seven years that I spent in Jerusalem, as indeed are many of the leading citizens of Israel. I believe I can say that, being a Cross-Bencher now, I was a bit of a Cross-Bencher in those days, for the A.D.C.'s room at Government House in Jerusalem was the only place where the Chairman of the Jewish Agency could meet his old friend the Arab Mayor of
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Jerusalem. So I have no bias at all to either side in the Arab-Jew dispute.
The task of U.N.R.W.A. for Palestine refugees is the long-term one of assisting refugees to become self-supporting. The temporary task is that of providing assistance, medical care and shelter. The basic food ration which these refugees are getting is 1,600 calories a day. I have just been sitting with a number of scientists on a Committee, and we worked out that the British Army recruit needs 3,800 calories a day, and that if the figure goes down one gets less and less energy and work out of him; and I know from my experience in North-West Europe during and after the war that people are quite incapable of any work whatsoever when they are not getting, say, 1,500 or 1,600 calories a day. The refugees are quite incapable of sustained work, which means that if one tries to start some form of agricultural work for these refugees very few of them are capable of carrying it out. The medical care that is possible at the moment with the funds at the disposal of the Organisation is sufficient only to prevent epidemics. The figure works out at 22 dollars per year per person, which is 7 cents a day for each refugee. I am not going into the argument about numbers, but M. Labouisse in his recent Report gives the figure as 900,000, and whether it is 700,000 or 900,000 does not, I think, make a great deal of difference.
The United Nations Resolution 194. to which my noble friend Lord Birdwood referred, reads as follows:
"Refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date and compensation should be paid for the property of those not choosing to return."
The essence of the refugee problem is political, and here I would like to quote from M. Labouisse's Report because that Report has not had anything like the publicity that it should have had in this country; indeed, it is very difficult to get copies of it. He says:
"Nearly 1 million people whose lives were disrupted by the events of 1947–48 are to-day one of the most important causes of the continued unrest in the Near East and at the same time the victims of it.
"U.N.R.W.A. can, to be sure, enable some hundreds of refugees to become self-supporting each year through small development projects, grants to establish small businesses and the like. But it cannot overcome the fact that refugees as a whole still insist upon the choice

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provided for them in the General Assembly Resolution, that is, repatriation or compensation.
"In the absence of that choice they bitterly oppose anything which is even the semblance of permanent settlement elsewhere. Officials of the host Government with but few exceptions openly support the refugees in this position. On the other hand, in the matter of repatriation and compensation, the Government of Israel has taken no affirmative action. It is for all these reasons that in my reports to the Assembly I have repeatedly emphasised that unless the choice provided for in Resolution 194 is given the refugees, or unless some other political settlement of the Palestine problem can be reached, U.N.R.W.A. would be unable to implement the Resolution of the General Assembly calling for the reintegration of the refugees into the economic life of the Near East, either by repatriation or by resettlement."
The noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, referred to the need for funds. He said, I think, that in the past year, thirty-one Governments had contributed, and that the United Kingdom and the United States had put up 90 per cent. of the money; in the year before twenty-three members only contributed, and the United States and the United Kingdom produced 94 per cent. of the money. The shortfall is very serious. The whole of the working capital of the organisation has now been used up. Though a great deal has been pledged, not a single penny has been subscribed.
A serious point has also arisen because the United States' pledge is conditioned by the stipulation that their contribution should not exceed 70 per cent. of the total received. Consequently, if the other members of the Assembly fail to make up the difference between the United States' pledge and the amount required for the budget, they stand to lose a part of the United States' pledge and the total shortage will be increased accordingly.
Mr. Labouisse, instead of directing his great work all the time—it is a tremendous job—admits himself that he has to spend half his time running round the world's capitals trying to obtain from Governments the money pledged by them, because they will not subscribe it. Every time the money gets short more and more services have to be cut. The entire new clothing programme for children has had to be given up; much new shelter construction has been abandoned; and in the field of rehabilitation, they have had to suppress the entire individual grants programme to
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schools for teacher training. Also, vocational and agricultural schools have had to be given up.
U.N.R.W.A. has so far maintained the bare essentials of its activities; that is, the basic relief service, seven cents a day per man for food, a little general education, and the two vocational training centres. In his last report Mr. Labouisse said this:
"May I stress here that U.N.R.W.A. has a continuous operating responsibility which cannot readily be adjusted to suit fluctuating financial circumstances. Whatever our agency does, or fails to do, has a direct bearing upon the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. In four different countries and territories, huge crowds of refugees line up, at given times and places, to receive their meagre dry rations. They come every day to our feeding centres. they use our seventy-two clinics and our more than 2,000 hospital beds"—
and require more—
"their children appear every school day in the 372 U.N.R.W.A. schools.…On purely practical grounds, such a diversity of services cannot be started or stopped at will, depending on whether or not funds are available for the coming months. They require advance planning, bulk purchasing, the provision of stocks, the maintenance of a staff, a complex but highly streamlined system of administration—all of which depends on a regular supply of funds. Who of us, in private life, would venture to operate even one single school, even one single clinic—or merely a small village grocery store—without being sure of having the resources to carry on for a reasonable time?"
I should like to take this opportunity of paying a great tribute to the remarkable work of Mr. Labouisse and his wife—whom some of your Lordships may remember as Miss Eve Curie, the daughter of the wonderful Monsieur and Madame Curie—for all the work they are so devotedly doing.
The Arab refugees are now turning to Communism. There is no better investment for Communism anywhere in the world; and in view of the importance of the Arab States to the West to-day is there anything more that we can do to be certain at least that the funds for the bare minimum work can be made available? Though our Government have loyally carried out their pledges, can they not do more to make the defaulting or wavering Governments see the tremendous opportunity for the stability of the Middle East, to see that that opportunity is not lost and that the bitterness and resentment of these people are brought to an end?
4.5 p.m.
LORD BROUGHSHANE: My Lords, it is with a good deal of diffidence that I rise to intervene in this debate, because I am far from being anything of an expert in Middle-Eastern affairs. But, having returned only a few days ago from a visit to Jordan and Lebanon, perhaps I may be permitted to make a few observations based on personal impressions which are at any rate of recent date. I am only too conscious that in any classification of bores the returned traveller is apt to find himself very near the top of the list, but I intend no narrative of reminiscences and I undertake to be brief. Indeed, the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, who has just spoken has covered a great deal of the ground which I intended to cover, and if I should be repetitive I hope that your Lordships will forgive me.
The Motion before your Lordships refers in terms to the "continued tension on the Arab-Israeli frontiers", and the first thing I should like to do is to confirm that those words are no mere figure of speech. I am unable to confirm what the noble Lord, Lord Silkin, referred to a moment ago as the exchange of compliments between frontier guards. So far as I could observe and hear, very much the contrary obtained. To a visitor, in fact, the surprising thing is that so much peace has been kept for so long.
As your Lordships will know, and have been told to-day, whatever the figures of refugees may be—whether they be 700,000 or 900,000 people—those people were evicted from their homes nearly ten years ago, and they are to-day penniless outcasts, for the most part, in a foreign land. The existence of so large a body of discontented persons would indeed be a disquieting factor in any context, but when the number of these refugees is related to the numbers of the populations of the countries in which they now find themselves, how much more disquieting is it! It is true that in Lebanon and in Syria the refugees number no more than 10 per cent. and 5 per cent. respectively of the local populations; but in Jordan they number over one-third, and in the Gaza Strip they number 200,000 out of a total population of 300,000.
The refugees live in circumstances of considerable hardship, and the rations which they receive from U.N.R.W.A. are,
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as the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, has pointed out, of bare subsistence level, some 1,500 calories a day. Nor is the plight of these people, in many cases, made the easier to bear by the very closeness in which they find themselves to the homes from which they have been driven. To see your own house falling down, and to be unable to repair it; to see your own orange crop harvested and sold by your enemy—these are not things which are conducive to a peaceful attitude of mind. In one village in Jordan the armistice line divides the village into two halves, so that one half of the villagers are separated from the well which was their only water supply. These villagers on the Jordanian side now have to make a daily journey of over half a mile for their water: a daily journey which does not, I venture to think, add to their feeling of contentment.
All the refugees cling with passionate belief to the thought of returning to their homes; and there is no Arab politician anywhere who dares to advocate any form of permanent resettlement. Nor are the refugees themselves prepared to co-operate in any way in any scheme which smacks of permanency, even though, as often has been the case, it is one which would immediately improve their comfort and prosperity.
I do not know whether noble Lords have seen the article in the Daily Telegraph this morning which refers to a camp where trees were planted. Even this act, inasmuch as it argued a form of permanent planting, enraged the refugees, and the trees were pulled up by the roots. Nearly half the refugees live in camps, and the most prominent objects which appear in any camp are portraits of President Nasser. He is the one person who the refugees feel understands their plight and is fighting their cause. In the schools the little children, from the age of six upwards start every day of their lives by reciting what is known as the Palestinian students' motto, which includes the words:
"Palestine is our home, and to return home is our aim … Death does net frighten us; Palestine is ours."
It is in these confusing and exasperating circumstances that the United Nations Relief and Works Organisation has to operate. To my mind, it is largely due to the activities of this organisation that during the past ten years there has been

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so little disturbance. This organisation, under Mr. Labouisse, the United States Director to whom reference has been made, and the British Deputy Director, is almost a State within other States, providing all the refugees, whether the number be 700,000 or 900,000, with their total means of subsistence and medical services; and for nearly half that number, shelter in camps. This is done, I repeat, at a cost of little more than sixpence per refugee per day, that figure including the cost of administration and medical services. In economical running. that compares very favourably with any other body.
The medical services (here I would differ a little from my noble friend Lord Thurlow) are of a very high order. They have seventy-two clinics, as the noble Lord said. These clinics have the most modern equipment and are staffed by doctors and nurses who, so far as I could see, are of the highest degree of proficiency. I think it is remarkable that in spite of the low standard of diet, the overcrowded camp conditions and the lack of heating and clothing, during the past ten years no sort of serious epidemic has broken out in any of the camps. The Directors of U.N.R.W.A. are apt to attribute this fact to Divine Providence, but there can be little doubt that Providence has been greatly assisted by the excellence of the medical services, and particularly by the emphasis which has been placed on preventive medicine, immunisation and sanitation.
In addition to these services, U.N.R.W.A. provides education for some 170,000 refugee children. This does not come out of the sixpence per head budget, but, as your Lordships have been told, out of the rehabilitation fund. This educational service is something which the refugees prize most highly. It is the only thing which gives them some gleam of hope for the future of their children, and the parents have a most touching faith in these schools. There is nothing more memorable than the enthusiasm and eagerness of the packed classes of little Arab children one sees in every camp. Therefore, to my mind it is nothing less than tragic that the Director of U.N.R.W.A., Mr. Labouisse, found himself obliged last month to go to New York and inform the General
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Assembly of the United Nations that shortage of funds, which had already compelled cuts in the distribution of clothing and in the construction of shelters, would compel him to discontinue these educational services next June.
I have said that that is tragic, but I believe that it is more than tragic. From a political point of view it is exceedingly dangerous that this work of U.N.R.W.A. should be curtailed. Can there he any doubt at all that the work of U.N.R.W.A. has played, and continues to play, a most important part in preventing the deterioration of what is undoubtedly an explosive situation? In Lebanon and in Jordan it was impressed on me by members of both Governments that any curtailment of U.N.R.W.A. activity could not fail to have the most serious effects upon these countries from the point of view of security, quite apart from any economic consequences or any questions of humanity.
Undoubtedly this applies to Jordan more than to any other country, because there, as has been said, U.N.R.W.A. supports more than one-third of the entire population. And Jordan is probably the key to the Middle East situation at the present time. If there is one thing more calculated than any other to bring about the downfall of the present régime in Jordan, which is composed of our friends, it would be to withdraw or curtail the activities of U.N.R.W.A. Far from these activities being cut, I should have thought it highly desirable that they should be increased, and that the relief services as regards food and shelter, which at present are of a most rudimentary nature, should be improved. This could not but tend to strengthen the hands of our friends in Jordan, for it should not be forgotten that in Jordan, and in Jordan alone, the refugees have the vote.
I am aware, of course, that Her Majesty's Government are not responsible for U.N.R.W.A., and that the shortage of funds arises from the failure of other Governments besides the United States to make good their contributions. But if U.N.R.W.A. should fail for lack of funds, with all the disastrous consequences which I believe would follow, it would be cold comfort to us to be able to say that it was not our fault. I wonder whether, when the noble Earl replies, we can be told exactly what is the present

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position as regards funds prospectively available for U.N.R.W.A., and whether there has been any improvement in the situation since Mr. Labouisse addressed the General Assembly on December 7 last. Perhaps we could also be told what the attitude of Her Majesty's Government would be in the event of adequate funds not being forthcoming.
It is clear, of course, that support for U.N.R.W.A. is no substitute for a political solution of the Palestine question, on which the refugee problem itself depends. I must leave it to others to discuss how that political solution might be brought about and what form it might take. It is difficult to see how the present deadlock can be broken unless the Israeli Government are prepared to make some gesture towards implementation of the resolution of the General Assembly of 1948 dealing with repatriation or compensation. It was with great interest and encouragement that I heard the noble Lord, Lord Silkin, say that he saw no unsurmountable obstacle in the way of such a gesture being made. But the chance of a peaceful solution being found for this general question will surely be the greater if an atmosphere of calm can be preserved in the countries bordering on Palestine. Surely it is certain that U.N.R.W.A. can greatly help to maintain such an atmosphere of relative calm. I do not advocate more funds for U.N.R.W.A. on humanitarian grounds—although a strong humanitarian case could be made—but purely on the grounds of political expediency. In the hope of avoiding a war and maintaining the peace we are spending hundreds of millions of pounds a year on "the deterrent." I would suggest that U.N.R.W.A. is a not insignificant promoter of peace, and to let it wither for the sake of a million pounds or so would be most misguided.
4.22 p.m.
VISCOUNT STANSGATE: My Lords, I intend to speak quite briefly. We have had a good debate, with a splendid speech from the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, who put his case (I do not agree with it) with great ability, and a speech full of knowledge from my noble friend Lord Silkin, who knows the whole case. I know Israel and the Middle East fairly will, but my acquaintance with this problem started about fifty years ago
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when I was the Member of Parliament for St. George's East in the Whitechapel part of London. I had then never heard of the Zionists and knew nothing about them—as Zionists, they did not exist—but I heard of the Basle Conference and Dr. Theodor Herzl's appeal and I began to take an interest. Then I found flocking into the docks of London wretchedly poor families with their things stitched up in bundles, having been robbed on every frontier coming from Russia or from the east of Europe. Then I began to take a greater interest, and that has persisted ever since.
A couple of years ago I had the horrifying experience of going through the Auschwitz extermination camp. I do not think anyone who has had that experience could possibly agree with the demand, or the request, made by the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, that the gate of Israel should be shut on any single Jew who wants to go there. The status of the Jew throughout the whole world has been altered by the fact that, for the first time, he has had the right to become a citizen of a sovereign State. Therefore, unless one agrees with the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, that the Balfour Declaration was a disaster, I think one must accept, first, that the open door in Israel must be retained.
I have only three points, and the second one is this. This debate, which has been enriched by so many well-informed speeches, has been a debate about what may be called running repairs. There has been little that is fundamental in it. The noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, gave us, from his immense experience, an account of the efforts of the United Nations Organisation, and the noble Lord, Lord Broughshane, referred to that matter, too. But it seems to me that practical people will ask: "How can you go on pushing this money into this fund when all you are getting is numbers that constantly increase by additions not only from the neighbours but also from the cradle?" Numbers of children have been born and the great majority of them have never known anything but refugee life. How can you approach a solution to that problem by saying "a little more money". "a little more education"? I have seen some of the refugee camps, and the fact of the matter is that the esprit de corps in the refugee camps is anti-Israel; and

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I suppose the hatred of the Israeli State is fiercer there than in any other part of the world.
Therefore, the problem that I wanted to hear discussed was something about integration. But, on the contrary, noble Lords have spoken about repatriation. I believe it is a fact that the Israeli Government have made some offer to repatriate—I have seen it put at some 90,000 or 100,000 people—and also, in certain circumstances, to compensate them for lost property. When one reads what has been said—many speeches have been made by Mr. Ben Gurion and by Mr. Eban in the United Nations—those very reasonable speeches give ground for hope. But it is a hope founded on one thing, and it is the second proposition that we must accept—namely, that Israel is there, and it is impossible to negotiate with people who declare (there is no secret about this) that in their hearts they are determined to extinguish the Jews. One therefore assumes, not unreasonably, that their policy, whatever it is, is only a step in the direction of the realisation of their goal. Therefore, I say that these offers by Israel could become perhaps richer, more generous and more helpful if it were understood that her right to live is admitted.
But even so, repatriation of these people is a very dangerous thing, and I cannot imagine any other State accepting such a solution. The noble Lord, Lord Broughshane, in his speech told us that these poor children recite every morning a hymn of hate. Yet you invite a small State like Israel, surrounded by enemies, to take in hundreds of thousands of people whose heart is full of hatred for the State. The circumstances have entirely altered in the last twenty years. By far the best solution, both from the point of view of the refugee and from the point of view of peace in the Middle East, would be some system of integration. My noble friend Lord Silkin pointed out that the area available is immense, and the labour-need is immense. People who visit Iraq know how urgent is the need for labour in the development of that very rich country. Therefore, I think it must be agreed that, as a third principle, the policy, to be successful, must be based upon integration.
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Then there is the fear among the Arabs. They have said: "How can you hold these people in? Look at Ben Gurion". I have had the privilege of meeting Ben Gurion and talking to him from time to time, but when this question referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Bird-wood, about the alteration of the frontiers was raised, he thumped the table and said: "How much more sand do they want? Have they not got enough already? Look at the map of Israel and you see a tiny country, almost like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, and they are asking that it should be further reduced." I am not authorised to speak for anybody, but I imagine that adjustments are possible to prevent these frontier incidents. An Arab, seeing a Jew collecting the vegetables from what used to be his, the Arab's, garden—I can understand that argument. But that you should reduce still further the attenuated territory which has such an immense moral importance in the world, I cannot conceive.
Finally, I do not want to widen the debate, but I should have liked to follow the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, into his very modest description of British policy in Egypt: that all we wanted was a little way through and a little oil from the population—all so reasonable that everyone would agree. I think it would perhaps be going slightly beyond the scope of this debate to discuss that. But I would say this: I think you do a great disservice to the Jews and, for that matter, to the Arabs, if you associate this conflict, which is a Middle Eastern conflict, with the great tussle which is going on throughout the world between the great Powers. Chaim Weizman many years ago—I do not suppose it is as true now as it was then—referred to the letter written by himself to Prince Feisal in 1919, reaching agreement between Jews and Arabs.
LORD BIRDWOOD: The last thing I wished to suggest was that we should associate the struggle between the great Powers with the Arab-Israeli situation. I think all the association, and the endeavour to associate, comes from the other side, from Soviet Russia. They are the people who would like to exploit Arab-Israeli differences. We have no desire whatsoever, surely, to associate the ideological struggle as between two great systems in the world with the Middle East problem.
VISCOUNT STANSGATE: That exactly illustrates the point I was making. Another speaker said that the worst of it is that these refugees are becoming Communists. Now the noble Lord has said that it is the Russians who are to blame. Russia and all the other great Powers do not understand—which is the fundamental truth—that Israel is not a "State" in that world sense. Israel is a vital element in a happy and prosperous Middle East, and with no big people interfering at all, then I think we should be near a solution.
I venture to offer these few remarks and in general to make these criticisms of a debate which has not been unhelpful. When Mr. Ben Gurion gives a firm assurance against expansion, when he speaks about compensation in certain circumstances, and when it is innate in the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, that the recognition of the right to live of the State of Israel is accepted by all, then it may be that, within the ambit of the Middle East, some solution to this problem may be approached.
4.32 p.m.
VISCOUNT MASSEREENE AND FERRARD: My Lords, much of what I wanted to say has been said already, but I should first of all like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, for initiating this debate and drawing attention to the deplorable plight of these 900,000-odd Arab Palestine refugees. No object can be served by going over the ground of how this tragic state of affairs came to pass. I will say only that it is at any rate to the credit of the British Government of that day that they refused to be a party to any solution that was not agreeable to the Jews and the Arabs. It was, of course, convenient to shuffle our responsibilities off on to U.N.O., but if ever there has been a more classic example of chickens coming home to roost I have yet to discover it. The dangers to world peace, with nearly a million resentful and frustrated refugees in a boiling pot like the Middle East, are obvious. I ask: How much longer can this running sore be allowed to bedevil Middle East relations?
Originally U.N.R.R.A., as we have already heard, was set up for only one year. I personally never understood why, because, surely, those who do things of
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this sort must have realised the magnitude of the task and the passions and the hatreds in the Middle East. But, of course, U.N.R.W.A. has now been going for nine years. I will not bore your Lordships with all the figures of pledges and babies born, and that sort of thing, because you have heard them already. But regarding the pledges for U.N.R.W.A., the whole trouble appears to arise from the fact that U.N.R.R.A. was originally set up for only one year, and the financing is done only year by year, It is extraordinary how Mr. Labouisse has not ended up in a madhouse, because he is responsible for these 900,000 people, and he does not really know from month to month whether he will have the cash to do his job.
If U.N.R.W.A. relief collapses, the result in human misery and social chaos may well be disastrous to the already flimsy stability of the Middle East. We have already heard that the refugees in Jordan alone number one-third of the population of that country. I appeal to Her Majesty's Government to do all in their power and bring every influence they can to bear to see that U.N.R.W.A. can carry out its programme of assistance for these hundreds of thousands of unfortunate people. About 400.000 Jews fled from the Arab lands into Israel and about 600,000 Arabs from Israel into Gaza, Jordan and other countries. How is it that Israel and the Arab States are not made to subscribe heavily to U.N.R.W.A. funds for all the Arab property the Jews are presumably utilising, and for the Jewish property the Arabs are utilising?
Having said that, I ask, what of the future? Are we to have a society of homeless beings as a permanent monument to past follies, a fertile seed-bed for Soviet propaganda? It is obvious that no permanent settlement of the refugee problem can come about until the Arab States and Israel sign a permanent peace treaty, with clearly defined borders. Of course, it is easy to say that, but I realise it is another matter to bring it into practice. It has not been helped by the Arab States' apparent refusal to regard any settlement of the refugees other than in Israel. We can hardly expect the Jews to take 900,000 refugees into Israel; that is, after all, half of their population. Presumably quite a large number of those

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refugees would also be a potential fifth-column. The plight of those refugees is also, I suppose, a valuable propaganda stick, a big stick for the Arab States to wallop the United Nations.
We have experience of the Middle East, and I am sure that, Arabs and Jews alike, many of them still hope that we shall go back and regain some of our former influence—I do not mean influence in concessions or anything like that; I mean influence in an advisory capacity. The Americans have not the experience, no matter how generous and big-hearted they may be.
My Lords, time is brief, and we have heard almost every aspect of this question. I can only say that if the West do not impose a solution on the Middle East, Russia will; and time, for once in our history, is not on our side in this case. We must do something, and do it quickly. I do not pretend that if there is an Arab-Israeli peace the whole of the Middle East will return to its pre-war state; but if we have an Arab-Israeli peace the end of the refugee problem will be in sight, and it will be extremely valuable to have this thorn in the side of Middle East relations plucked out. I think I have said enough. I was going on to speak on Soviet influence in the Middle East, but it is hardly in the terms of the Motion. I can only hope that out of the Baghdad Pact some glimmer of hope may emerge.
4.42 p.m.
LORD FORBES: My Lords, I wish to say a few words on this subject, for two reasons. First of all, I believe that if there is a Third World War—and I pray there will not be one—it will be started from a spark in the Middle East which has been kindled by Arab-Jewish friction. Secondly, as a Christian I find it extremely difficult to keep quiet when so many unChristian acts are going on in the land known as the Holy Land. I am thinking not only of the many acts of violence going on, but also of the pitiful plight of these many Arab refugees. Those of us who have seen, as I have, fishermen casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee, now known as Lake Tiberias, will, I am certain, wish for nothing more than peace and stability in that part of the Holy Land. My few remarks are going to be based on what
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I might call local knowledge because, besides serving in the Middle East during part of the last war, I had the privilege after the war of serving as Military Assistant to the last British High Commissioner for Palestine.
I can see no useful purpose in going back over the past and recalling the many mistakes—and indeed there were many mistakes—made. I should, however, just like to point out that there was one fact which completely dogged the British effort during the last few years of the British Mandate in Palestine. I refer to the very marked disunity between America and Britain over Palestinian policy. For this—and not for the first time—I am afraid that we must blame domestic politics. How cruel, my Lords, that the world should suffer through the whims of domestic politics! Much of the trouble arose from the fact that after the war there were a great many more Jews in the State of New York than there were in the whole of Palestine. Had it not been for this divergence of views between Britain and the United States, I feel quite confident that an agreed settlement between the Arabs and the Jews could have been reached during the years 1945 to 1947. However, I will say no more about the past.
The present position can, I think, be summed up as follows: it is the combined fear of Arabs fearing the domination of Jews and Jews fearing the domination of Arabs. This fear has turned into a running sore, which, as many other noble Lords have said, is nothing more than an ideal breeding ground for Communism. Israel and Jordan are to-day two unhappy States. They are both viable economically, without very great outside financial assistance. In each State it is nothing more than a question of too many people living on land which is too poor to support them. By various means Israel has now acquired about 80 per cent. of what used to be Palestine, including the main citrus groves. Jordan, on the other hand, has many thousands of Palestinian Arab refugees. What of the future? Here I find that the requirements for a solution are very much easier to see than how the requirements are to be brought about. The requirements. I think, are that the frontiers between Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Israel must be stabilised. Secondly,

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the Arab refugees must be resettled; and thirdly, Jerusalem should become international.
From what I have already said I think it is quite clear that there is no chance of an agreed settlement between Jews and Arabs. So it will be necessary to bring into motion machinery for an enforced settlement. Fortunately, we have the United Nations Organisation, which was created for just such a task. It is therefore up to that Organisation to shoulder its responsibility and to prove its worth. In order that the United Nations Assembly can produce a workable solution, I believe very strongly that there will have to be agreement between America, Russia and ourselves. In my opinion it would be ridiculous to ignore or try to cover up the fact that the Rusians already have considerable influence in the Middle East. It is because of (this fact that I am convinced we should seek with the Russians, as well as with the Americans, a solution to be imposed by the United Nations.
There are two other good reasons for taking this line with the Russians. One is that they themselves have recently expressed the desire to see stability and the end of the arms race in the Middle East. An attempt to get agreement with the Russians over the Arab-Jewish problem would, I think, put the Russians "on the spot". They would have to prove their sincerity—which, in the main, would mean the re-establishment of the status quo ante—or they would be branded by the world as wishing to keep the Middle East wound from healing. Secondly, I believe that the free world has small hope of finding agreement with Russia and her satellites over such a gigantic issue as disarmament unless, first of all, we reach some agreement with them over a smaller issue. A start must be made somewhere. The door to agreement with the Russians has, I think, been unlatched in the sphere of sport and art. Now let us try to open it gradually, step by step, where we think that there is some common ground for agreement.
I believe that in this case there is a chance, because I do not think that, as yet, Russia is fully committed either to the Jews or to the Arabs. Towards the end of the British Mandate in Palestine the Russians were supporting the Jewish
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claim for a Jewish State. Later, at the time of Suez, the Russians were supplying Egypt and Syria with arms. So, while this inconsistency still exists—it may not go on for much longer—let us seek agreement with Russia over the Arab-Jewish problem before she herself throws in her whole might on one side. I believe that neither Jew nor Arab would flout a United Nations resolution which had been sponsored by America, Russia and ourselves, provided that it was enforced by adequate forces. As for carrying out the requirements which I have already mentioned, I feel certain that, once the big Powers were in agreement over the requirements, the method of carrying them out could be agreed in a realistic manner. I will therefore add only a few remarks on how, from my local knowledge, I consider this task might be carried out.
The present Arab-Israeli armistice line is clearly quite unworkable. For instance, the line goes through about one hundred Arab villages inhabited by some 100,000 Arabs. While still living in their houses, many of these Arabs have been deprived not only of their land but, in some cases, of their water. I read of a case where some Arabs could see their water cisterns twenty yards across the frontier, yet they had to go twenty miles for their water. Clearly, a line on a map is unworkable. What is wanted is a definite feature on the ground. Herein lies the difficulty.
The only physical feature in the east of the country is the river Jordan and the Dead Sea. In the south, another possible feature is the Gaza-Beersheba road. This is not a happy solution, I realise, but I am certain that no solution can be found which will give absolute justice to everyone. With the River Jordan as the frontier, Israel would be left with the main Mediterranean ports, the main railway system and the citrus groves, while Jordan would be left with the poorer part of the country. Jordan should, however, in my opinion, be given the River Jordan, for irrigation and for other purposes, as well as having the Dead Sea, with its important potash and salt deposits. This, with a promise of further economic aid from the United Nations would, I feel sure, prove preferable to the Arabs of Jordan than their present plight. The Arab refugees should either be allowed to return to their homes in Israel, or should be rehabilitated in

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other Arab States, with financial assistance from the United Nations. Then—of utmost importance to the whole world—Jerusalem should be made international, so that all persons can have unimpeded access to the city. Here a police force found by the United Nations would be necessary. Surely all Christian Churches would join together in trying to bring this about.
The way ahead for us is clear. Britain, that erstwhile much-respected Power in the Middle East, must instigate talks with the United States and with Russia for the healing by the United Nations of the Arab-Jewish running sore. This might not only bring peace and stability to the Middle East but might also achieve a modicum of agreement with the Russians, something the free world has failed to do for over twelve years. My Lords, with that achieved, the British Lion would, I am certain, once more be treated with respect throughout the world.
4.59 p.m.
THE EARL OF LUCAN: My Lords, the debate has, with some small exceptions, maintained the high standard set by the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood—a standard of serious approach and objectivity; because if one once starts a partisan approach to this subject it seems to me that one gets into recriminations and arguments on the history of the last forty years and there is no hope of any solution to the problem. Many of the contributions have been very well-informed, particularly that of the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, who gave many of the details of the present situation of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. But one section of the last annual report of the Director, Mr. Labouisse, has not been mentioned and I think it is worth drawing to your Lordships' attention.
The House has been told of the acute financial crisis which faces the Agency now. To some extent, the anxieties of last autumn have been relieved, because the pledges for the first six months of this year have been forthcoming, although not in the sums that are required. Some 25 million dollars' worth of pledges have been received. It is worth reminding your Lordships that a pledge is not the same as a dollar, because it has been the invariable experience of the Agency
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that pledges are often years in arrears, and, as has been explained, that makes the work that much more difficult.
But the serious, almost disastrous, effect of the present shortage of money is shown in the section of the report dealing with the rehabilitation side of the Agency's work, and I cannot put it in better words than those of the report itself. Mr. Labouisse says:
"It is particularly unfortunate that circumstances have brought about these results at this time, for during the year under review there has been evidence of a slight shift in the attitude of refugees towards self-support. Although the desire of the refugees for repatriation and their opposition to permanent resettlement continue unabated, there are signs among them of a growing appreciation of the desirability of self-support and of rehabilitation, in the broad sense of an improvement in their conditions of life and prospects for the future."
That has to be set against some of the statements made this afternoon that feeling is still as bitter as it ever has been, and I cannot help thinking that as the younger generation, who have grown up not knowing Palestine, come to adult status, there will be less bitterness, provided, of course, that the Agency can make their lives sufficiently pleasant and useful by means of education. There, again, the effect of the shortage of funds is going to be extremely serious.
It should also be said that the Report shows once again that the Agency is not receiving from the Governments of the host countries the co-operation that it is entitled to expect and which has been particularly asked for by the General Assembly. Questions of registration, rectification of numbers in the allotment of rations, and so on, are matters which depend to the greatest extent on co-operation in Jordan, and the director says that that co-operation is lacking. We know, or hope, that the work of the Agency is only a stop-gap, a temporary alleviation of these almost intolerable conditions. What is necessary for the future is a political settlement, but I suggest that a measure of amelioration of the present lot of the refugees will be a direct contribution to a political solution—for two reasons. This is where I believe Her Majesty's Government can help. We have contributed our full share of money, but have we used our influence sufficiently through diplomatic channels to persuade other countries to make a contribution to the work

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of the Agency? There we come to a point made by the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, that we should re-think our attitude towards the Arab countries.
I suggest that if we persuaded the countries, say, of the Baghdad Pact or other countries with whom we are in friendly association, to increase their donations to United Nations funds, that would of itself reduce the danger of Communism in the Middle East, because, as is often said, the breeding ground of Communism is in just such conditions as we find in the camps. The second way in which we could help is by education. The more education, vocational training and rehabilitation that can take place in those camps, the less bitterness there will be between the Arabs and the State of Israel.
But the long-term prospect of a settlement of the Arab-Israeli dispute is quite another thing from the fate of these unfortunate one million refugees. It brings in the whole question of relations between the Middle East States and the great Powers. The noble Lord, Lord Forbes, asked why should we not invite the Russians to join us in (I believe he said) imposing an enforced settlement upon the Middle East. History has shown that enforced settlements do not last. In fact, in our own day they do not work. I believe that enforced settlements are a relic of a past age of diplomacy in politics. We can settle people by agreement if we can get them to agree, but we cannot impose that by force. There is an old saying that one can do anything with a bayonet except sit upon it.
LORD FORBES: My Lords, I was trying to convey the point that there should be an agreement with the Russians and the Americans on the requirements for a solution—not the actual carrying out of it.
THE EARL OF LUCAN: My Lords, that is another thing; but I thought the noble Lord envisaged the great Powers deciding on the future settlement in the Middle East and enforcing it. That seems to me highly topical at the moment because it was the very thing suggested by Mr. Bulganin in his letter of December which contains just one paragraph about the Middle East in which he proposed to the British Government that to "normalise" the situation in the Near and Middle
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East the four Powers—that is, Russia, America, France and Britain—should agree, first, to take no steps which would infringe the independence of the countries of that area; and secondly, to renounce the use of force in the settlement of problems relating to the Near and Middle East.
Russia would not be "put on the spot" if a meeting concerning the Middle East were suggested; they have, indeed, taken the initiative in suggesting it; and is that not an opportunity for Her Majesty's Government and the Americans to take, in order to try to reduce the tension and the hatred in this part of the world? Because although the noble Lord in the terms of his Motion referred to the settlement of the refugee problem as "an indispensable contribution" to a settlement in the area, it is not the only contribution, and until the general atmosphere of hatred has subsided the refugee problem cannot be settled. It cannot be settled in isolation, but only as a consequence of the general slackening of tension. It is in just such a situation as this that a combination of the four great Powers in urging a solution and an end of the Arab-Israeli hostility would contribute most.
Then we come to the noble Lord's points that he thought should be the basis for a settlement. He referred to a compromise on frontiers—some compromise between the present frontiers and the 1947 frontiers as laid down. We do not know—I believe it has never been cleared up—exactly what was in the mind of Sir Anthony Eden when he made his Guildhall speech two years ago: whether small rectifications as between their villages and their lands and minor matters such as that, to which everybody would agree, were being referred to, or whether he had in mind a substantial surrender of territory by Israel to Jordan or the Arab States. If it is the latter, a substantial surrender of territory, then it seems to me to be quite unrealistic to expect it, for reasons which my noble friends Lord Silkin and Lord Stansgate gave. But if it is only minor rectification, balancing here and there surrenders and acquisitions, then I think there would be no difficulty about getting discussions on the subject. Secondly, he thought that the Arab States should have a guarantee against Israeli expansion. The Israeli Government, although not

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officially, have expressed themselves as having no aggressive intentions, and if that were made more explicit and more official, it would do a great deal to calm the fears of the Arabs.
Finally, there is the question of the settlement of the refugees. If the member States contribute the money, if they honour their pledges (and if more money is pledged), the Agency will in the course of time, continuing the magnificent work which it has been doing, make something for these unfortunate human beings who have for so long had to live aimless lives in camps. They can do it if they have the money and if they have the cooperation of the refugees themselves and the host Government. Then we come back in the vicious circle to the point where hatred of the Jews by the Arabs is such that you will not get that cooperation. So a start must be made in reducing the atmosphere of tension and hostility.
5.15 p.m.
THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE EARL OF GOSFORD): My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend, Lord Birdwood, for having given me the opportunity to state Her Majesty's Government's views on this stubborn problem. I entirely agree with the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, that the speeches to-day have been on a high level. I think that the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, showed no traces at all of any partisanship, as he in fact forecast to us—and I suppose, really, that that is not very surprising, in view of the fact that he himself did not seem to know for which side he was batting. But I fully sympathise, and agree with all the sympathy which various noble Lords have expressed with the refugees and their plight. I will ask your Lordships to bear with me for a little while, for I feel that it is necessary (and I do not in this case agree with my noble friend) to go over very briefly a little of the history, not for any reason of recrimination—I assure the noble Earl. Lord Lucan, of that point—but purely with a view to putting the problem into perspective as Her Majesty's Government see it.
In 1947 His Majesty's Government had decided that the Mandate which had been
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given by the Council of the League of Nations had become unworkable and to submit the problem, in consequence, to the United Nations; with the result that in May of that year the General Assembly set up an eleven-power Special Committee on Palestine to examine the situation and to make recommendations. Its report recommended the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish States and the placing of Jerusalem under a special régime. The two States, after a transitional period of two years under the British-Palestine Administration and under United Nations auspices, were to become independent but bound together by an economic union.
At the United Nations General Assembly's regular session in the autumn, Mr. Creech-Jones, the then United Kingdom Colonial Secretary. stated that Britain was ready to assume responsibility for giving effect to any plan for Palestine agreed to by both Jews and Arabs, but not to impose by force any policy recommended by the Assembly which was not acceptable to both the Jews and the Arabs, as the noble Viscount, Lord Massereene and Ferrard, has already stated. Mr. Creech-Jones further pointed out that, in the absence of a basis of consent for a settlement, it was of the highest importance that any Assembly recommendations should be accompanied by a clear definition of the means by which they should be carried out. In November, 1947, the partition proposal was adopted in the Assembly by thirty-three votes, including those of the United States and U.S.S.R., with ourselves abstaining.
In May, 1948, the Mandate came to an end. The State of Israel was proclaimed, and was immediately recognised de facto by the United States and the U.S.S.R., and the disturbances in Palestine developed into open warfare. The fighting was finally brought to an end by a series of armistice agreements between Israel and the neighbouring Arab States, by the Acting Mediator of the United Nations in the first half of 1949. As a result, Israel, which under the partition plan would have occupied about 55 per cent. of the territory of Palestine in a State without geographical unity, was in fact left the mistress of about 80 per cent. of the area in the form in which we know it to-day. Meanwhile, in their resolution

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of December 11, 1948, the United Nations set up a Conciliation Commission for Palestine consisting of three members—France, Turkey and the United States of America—with a mandate to assist the parties to the conflict in reaching a permanent settlement. This resolution also stated that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and to live in peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so, and at 'the earliest practicable moment, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return.
During the three years following its appointment, the Conciliation Commission made serious attempts to induce Israel and the Arab States to reach a peace settlement or, failing that, to work for a solution to individual aspects of the problem left by the termination of the mandate. Having failed, it reported its failure to the United Nations General Assembly, which in January, 1952, placed on the Governments concerned the primary responsibility for reaching a settlement of their outstanding differences and instructed that the Commission should remain available to the parties. Meanwhile, in May, 1950, the Governments of the United Kingdom, France and the United States of America jointly declared their deep interest in the establishment and maintenance of peace and stability in the area. They affirmed their opposition to the use or threat of force between the States, and they undertook to take action within and outside the United Nations to prevent the violation of frontiers and armistice lines.
Since the end of 1956, Israel's frontiers have been less subject to tension than in any recent years. In the eleven months ending November, 1957, there were fewer fatal casualties than in the corresponding period of 1956, and there were no retaliatory attacks from the Israel side, especially against Jordan, whereas these had involved heavy loss of life in the past. One reason for quiet on the Egyptian frontier is certainly the presence of the United Nations Emergency Force. Judging by the almost complete lack of incidents for several months, the failure to secure its stationing on Israel territory has not lessened its effectiveness. It must be admitted that this factor might easily change if Egypt resumed fedayeen
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operations or allowed them to recommence.
On the other borders, that with the Lebanon has been almost wholly quiet, as usual, and there has been only one major brush on the Syrian sector. No doubt one reason for this has been the greater restraint shown on the whole by Arabs and Jews, neither of whom seem eager to provoke new fighting. This must be due, partly at least, to the increasingly effective presence of, and added respect for, the authority of the United Nations. Her Majesty's Government wholeheartedly approve of this increase of the authority of the United Nations and are ready to support any proposals that may be made to strengthen it further. Any such proposals should be aimed at getting the parties to the Armistice Agreement to accept the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation increasingly as the arbiters for disputes; disputes which have hitherto tended to lead to tension and to be settled by force. Like our Allies, France and the United States of America, we are still pledged to take steps inside or outside the United Nations to meet aggression or the threat of aggression in the area.
I will turn now to the main topic and reason for the debate—the refugee problem. During the fighting in 1948, nearly 900,000 refugees (I cannot be more precise than that) left their homes for Arab territory, and by far the greater number are still being maintained in camps by U.N.R.W.A. The noble Lord, Lord Silkin, mentioned 200,000 who have been—
LORD SILKIN: I said that there had been 200.000 births since 1948.
THE EARL OF GOSFORD: I am sorry that I misunderstood the noble Lord. Did the noble Lord, Lord Birdwood, mention it?
LORD BIRDWOOD: My Lords, I calculated that 200,000 had been born into refugee status since the problem began.
THE EARL OF GOSFORD: I apologise for misunderstanding the noble Lord. Any Arab country which allowed these refugees to settle on its territory would be admitting finally Israel's conquest.

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Moreover, at the moment the Arab countries would be hard put to it to absorb the refugees without severe economic and social damage to themselves. On the other hand, not only would the immediate admission of all, or a large part, of the refugees to Israel be a practical impossibility—in fact, the noble Lord, Lord Silkin, said that it would be unthinkable—for both social and economic reasons, but the refugees themselves would be unlikely to accept Israel rule if there were any reasonable alternative. Nevertheless, the refugees must be settled. This can be done only with the co-operation of the United Nations. The principle laid down by the United Nations is still that of their resolution of December 11, 1948:
"An endorsement of the right of refugees to return to their homes if they wished or to compensation if they did not."
If this could be brought about, the offers of help towards resettlement and compensation already made by the United Kingdom and United States Governments could be made the basis of an organised provision of funds by the United Nations, and the refugees could be given plain alternatives from which to choose.
Until this can be done, the only way in which Her Majesty's Government can help the present plight of the refugees is to continue their generous contribution to relief and rehabilitation and to urge other countries to bear their share and to contribute funds. The noble Lord, Lord Silkin, said that if the refugee problem could be got out of the way, the larger problem could be dealt with more easily. I entirely agree. Unfortunately, the experience of the past few years suggests that there is little possibility of persuading the two sides to take the refugee problem out of politics. Moreover, the rock on which attempts at compromise in the past have split has been the question of the right to repatriation, and this is the one which is least to be moved by any offers of outside assistance.
My noble friend Lord Broughshane asked what developments there have been since Mr. Labouisse's statement in the United Nations in December. The Canadian Secretary for External Affairs announced recently that he would in due course be submitting the Supplementary Estimate for 1958 for a further contribution to U.N.R.W.A. of 1½ million dollars, and this contribution would be made
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in the form of flour. Mr. de Kemonlaria the United Nations Secretary-General's Assistant, is at present touring certain countries, in accordance with the General Assembly's resolution, and we hope that, as a result of his tour, some Governments will be able to increase their contributions. My noble friend also asked what Her Majesty's Government's attitude would be should U.N.R.W.A. run out of funds. I think the best thing I can say is that Her Majesty's Government's past record of contributions proves adequately that we agree with the noble Lord as to the vast importance of U.N.R.W.A.'s operations. We shall continue, subject to the voting of the necessary funds, to keep up this good record. However, we do consider—and I must stress this—that other countries must play their part, and we await with interest the results of the current efforts of Mr. Hammarskjoeld and his team to persuade them to do so.
Her Majesty's Government would welcome any chance of a permanent settlement of the Palestine problem. But settlement can be reached only by methods which are in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. This means that both sides must make up their minds that concessions will have to be made. This was the thesis of Sir Anthony Eden's speech in the Guildhall on November 9, 1955, and by which we still stand. What these concessions should be is not, however, for Her Majesty's Government to state now. Though Israel says that she is ready to discuss matters direct with the Arabs, the Arabs argue that direct negotiations cannot begin on the basis of a fait accompli which is not sanctioned by the United Nations. Both sides are, in public at least, intensely resentful of suggestions that they should give up any of their demands or their acquisitions, and the controversy aroused by new proposals put forward by outside Powers tends to achieve nothing and only to fan passions afresh, which is why I do not propose to put forward any to-day. Indeed, one of the great dangers is that these passions are being deliberately and cynically fanned by Communists for Communist ends.
My noble friend Lord Forbes suggested that the only way to settlement of the Palestine problem is to come to agreement with the Soviet Union. With your Lordships' permission, I should like to quote the United Kingdom's reply of

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September 24 last year to the Soviet Note of September 3. We said:
"Her Majesty's Government remain convinced that the continuation of the Arab-Israel dispute is the basic cause of tension in the Middle East. We would welcome any evidence of a genuine desire on the part of the Soviet Government to seek a solution of this fundamental problem. But as things are, the large-scale supply of Soviet arms to certain countries in this area, coupled with Soviet propaganda of a type which inevitably stimulates ill-feeling between nations, cannot fail to aggravate the situation. It leads inescapably to the conclusion that the Soviet Government are not sincere in their proposed wish to see peace and stability in the Middle East."
VISCOUNT STANSGATE: I should like to ask a question of the noble Earl. Since that document there has been a letter, one of these numerous letters, from Mr. Bulganin, who suggested, I understand, that some disengagement (as it is called) should be entered into in the Middle East as has been proposed for Central Europe. Could the noble Earl comment on that further offer from the Russians?
THE EARL OF GOSFORD: I do not think I can comment on that until the reply from the Prime Minister to the letter is sent. We believe, however, that efforts to disrupt the Arab world will be resisted and overcome by the common desire of the Arabs for greater unity and for concrete and progressive efforts to bring about greater stability and a higher standard of living. The United Kingdom, like other freedom-loving countries, can help; and I would draw your Lordships' attention again to one field in which we are playing a part, the Baghdad Pact. This is an important deterrent to armed aggression from outside the area. It may be even more important as the way whereby countries in the region and their friends in the free world can co-operate in winning the battle against poverty, so removing an important part of the material on which Communism feeds.
VISCOUNT STANSGATE: Following that suggestion about the use of the Baghdad Pact machinery, would the noble Earl make some provision by which Israel could be present at the discussions of the Baghdad Pact Powers?
THE EARL OF GOSFORD: I do not quite understand how the noble Viscount expects us to be able to do that, seeing that Israel is not a member of the Baghdad Pact.
VISCOUNT STANSGATE: By our consent and design.
THE EARL OF GOSFORD: We are only one of the members. I was saying to your Lordships that we felt that the Baghdad Pact was one way in which the free world could co-operate in winning the battle against poverty and so removing an important part of the material on which Communism feeds. The meeting of the Pact Council in Ankara which is now taking place is, I think, welcome proof of the rapid progress which is being made in this sphere.
In these circumstances, Her Majesty's Government must weigh very carefully the advantages of pressing unilaterally for the solution of this problem against the dangers that, by so doing, they will do more harm than good, not only to our own interests but also to the long-term prospects of solving the problem itself. This is, as I have already said, a United Nations problem. Perhaps the United Nations may find possibilities of progress in the sort of idea of a neutral arbitrator as put forward by my noble friend Lord Birdwood and the noble Lord, Lord Silkin. Her Majesty's Government will continue to give all support to efforts by the United Nations to solve the problem. As I have said, it is encouraging that the interest and understanding shown in the United Nations has increased so much lately.
5.40 p.m.
LORD BIRDWOOD: My Lords, I should like to thank the noble Earl for a full and complete answer. If some of the questions I posed at the beginning have not been answered, I said that I would accept the view that, if Her Majesty's Government, with their more complete information, came to the conclusion that it was not in the public interest to go deeply into plans, we should accept it. I was particularly glad to hear that Her Majesty's Government intend, if not to strengthen the hand of the United Nations, at least to support strengthening it. I should have liked to hear more about proposals which we should put forward and initiate, rather than about merely supporting proposals which might come in a general sense.
I should like to thank all noble Lords who have taken part in the debate, particularly those who have had recent personal experience. I would pick up only

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one or two small points which noble Lords opposite raised. The noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, raised the question of disengagement, and I think it is important that we should get our ideas clear on this matter. I view disengagement in the Middle East in rather a different light from disengagement in Europe. Disengagement in the Middle East has to imply a pledge not to arm, shall we say, all the way from the Turkish frontier down to Aden. If that is to mean that a similar area in size is to be disengaged on the other side—in other words, if we could be quite certain that there would be no Soviet submarine bases on the other side of the Black Sea—then, by all means, let us take up the idea of disengagement. But so far the proposition of disengagement has been mentioned only in the context of its application to the Middle East, and not to what happens to the north of the area.
As regards the general proposition put up that perhaps the refugees taken back would be a fifth column in Israel, I realise
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that if 930,000 refugees were to go back it would endanger the prospects of the State and its future existence. But Mr. Ben Gurion has spoken in terms in his recent address to the Knesset of millions coming in; and if you are going to take in millions of the Jewish race from outside, it seems to be quite compatible that you should take in perhaps 200,000 refugees as a token gesture. It does not seem to me to be quite compatible to claim at the same time that the country is small, attenuated and has no space to expand, as the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, said. I have nothing more to say. I think the debate has served the purpose for which it was conceived, and that is to draw attention to our continued interest, and our hope that we may continue to influence the situation rather than allow events just to drift. I beg leave to withdraw my Motion.
Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.
House adjourned at fifteen minutes before six o'clock.