§ Mr. Joelasked the Prime Minister whether the Government will take into consideration the owners of houses who are responsible to the ground landlords for the upkeep of the structures and who, in the case of damage by air raids, will have to rebuild at their own expense; and whether, since such an outlay would prove ruinous in most cases, he will institute an inquiry to see whether the responsibility for the restoration of the structures under these circumstances can be shared between all the parties concerned?
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§ Sir J. SimonI have been asked to reply. I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade to a question by the hon. Member for South Kensington (Sir W. Davison) on 5th April last, indicating that this matter was receiving close consideration.
§ Mr. Windsorasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware of the grave anxiety that exists among the people in the East Coast towns, owing to their vulnerability; and whether he has considered some special insurance scheme in the case of bombardment or air attack?
§ Sir J. SimonI have been asked to reply. I would refer the hon. Member to the replies given in answer to questions on this subject by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade on and November, 1937, and 17th May, 1938.
§ Mr. Naylorasked the Home Secretary what methods of testing gas masks are now adopted, and whether the testing is by sample, selection, or otherwise?
§ Mr. LloydCivilian respirators are not assembled until they are to be issued, but all the components of the face-pieces and filters are examined during manufacture of these articles, samples of the rubber portions and filter components being subjected to physical and chemical tests. There is inspection at every stage of assembly of the filters, and the completed filters are tested to ensure that they will afford protection.
§ Mr. Naylorasked the Home Secretary what progress has been made in respect to the provision of shelters and methods of evacuation in the densely-populated areas of South London?
§ Mr. LloydI cannot add anything at present to the statements which were made on this subject in the Debate of 1st June.
§ Mr. G. Griffithsasked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the statement in the air-raid precautions handbook No. 3 that all persons not previously exposed are about equally sensitive to mustard gas, he will give details of the experiments by which the conclusions of Professor Marshall and others, published in the 52W Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics for 1929, that some people are 600 times as sensitive as others, were refuted?
§ Mr. LloydThe hon. Member, I gather, is referring to a report published in 1919. The experiments described in that report were carried out with comparatively high concentrations of gas, whereas the statement in the handbook reflects recent similar experiments with lower concentrations, and the difference in experience is probably due to that difference in concentration.
§ Mr. T. Smithasked the Home Secretary why, if one foot of earth-covering is considered sufficient for trenches for householders, as indicated in the householder's handbook, the Defence of Your Home, two feet are needed for factory workers, according to air-raid precautions handbook No. 6?
§ Mr. LloydThe hon. Member will appreciate that there can be no absolute standard of protection. The first publication mentioned gives the ordinary householder advice upon the simplest forms of protection. It would be an advantage if the more elaborate system recommended for large establishments in handbook No. 6 could be generally adopted; but it would not, I suggest, be advisable to lay down a standard requiring either material or technical knowledge which might not be readily available to the ordinary householders.
§ Mr. T. Smithasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that, in addition to incendiary bombs containing thermite, and therefore approachable, incendiary bombs containing phosphorus and shooting out burning material for many feet are also in existence; whether any reference to this latter type is made in the air-raid precautions handbooks and memoranda; and, if not, whether he will have the statement that incendiary bombs can be approached amended as being misleading?
§ Mr. LloydIt has been fully recognised that incendiary bombs throw out burning material, and this fact is recognised in the Householders' Handbook, of which a large number of copies have been circulated to air-raid personnel.
§ Sir J. Mellorasked the Home Secretary whether the surveys made of possible 53W shelter accommodation in the boroughs of Holborn, Stepney and Wandsworth included any estimate of the cost of providing reasonable shelter in the said boroughs against air raids?
§ Mr. LloydThese preliminary surveys were directed towards ascertaining the number of people for whom public shelters might be required and the amount and nature of such accommodation which could be made available.
§ Sir J. Mellorasked the Home Secretary whether the grant of 50 per cent. to public utility undertakings towards the cost of protection of vital services against air raids will be attracted by any expenditure which is not incurred exclusively for such protection; and whether expenditure by a public utility undertaking, incurred partially for the purpose of protection against air raids, will attract a grant based on a smaller percentage of such expenditure?
§ Mr. LloydThe grant of 50 per cent. will be calculated upon, and will be confined to, the expenditure incurred by public utility undertakings on precautionary measures, additional to those falling upon industry generally, which are necessary to ensure their continued functioning in war time.