Mr. T. WILSONasked the Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs if 1264W he is aware that the restrictions upon the export of cotton goods and yarn to Switzerland and other neutral countries is affecting the cotton industry of Lancashire; and when these restrictions will be removed or modified?
Mr. BALFOURI am fully alive to the effect of the restrictions in question on the Lancashire cotton industry. They form part of a general policy necessitated by the interests of the blockade, and the date of their removal or modification must depend upon the results of negotiations now in progress between His Majesty's Government and their co-belligerents on the one hand and the several neutral Governments on the other hand.
Prison Rules (Writing Materials).
Mr. E. HARVEYasked the Home Secretary how long the Regulation prohibiting prisoners from the use of writing materials has been in force; and whether it is now possible to modify it in any way?
§ Sir G. CAVEThe prohibition, which applies to short-sentence prisoners only, has existed for many years, and I do not propose to modify it at the present time.