§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by what statutory authority Her Majesty's Government issued free of charge at public expense copies of the White Paper on the European Economic Community to recognised political parties; and what similar action has been taken since June, 1971.
§ Mr. Anthony RoyleNo copies of the White Paper, Cmnd. 4715, were made available to political parties free of charge. Twelve free copies were, exceptionally, made available to each Member of the House.
The precedents for the issue of the short version of the White Paper were fully explained by my right hon. Friend 304W the Lord President of the Council in his statement on 19th July. I gave up to date figures for the number and cost of copies of the short version of the White Paper supplied to political parties at their request, in answer to the hon. Member for Hackney, Central (Mr. Clinton Davis) on 20th October.—[Vol. 821, c. 1050–2; Vol. 823, c. 131–3.]