§ Mr. MacLarenasked the Postmaster-General whether he will take steps to stop the present trading ring of telephone instrument manufacturers conducting large-scale propaganda in schools throughout the country; and, as it is in the public interest to teach children the use of the telephone, whether he will arrange for this work to be done by the Post Office?
§ Sir W. WomersleyI presume the hon. Member refers to the lectures arranged by the Telephone Development Association for children about to leave the primary schools, which deal with the proper way to make or receive a telephone call. The lectures were prepared by the association in close consultation with the Post Office and exemplify the valuable co-operation afforded to the Department by the British manufacturers of telephone equipment. They cannot be given without the consent of the local education authorities, who would not tolerate any propagandist 1387W element; and it is a significant fact that all the lectures to be given during 1939 have been arranged at the request of authorities who have had previous experience of them.