THE EARL OF MANSFIELDasked His Majesty's Government whether they are aware that, while the minimum charge for an air-mail letter from Britain to Jamaica is one shilling, it is one shilling and threepence in the other direction; and whether they will state if there is any valid reason for the continuance of this anomaly.
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COLONIAL AFFAIRS (THE EARL OF LISTOWEL)The position is not quite as the noble Lord states. There is an air letter service from Jamaica to the United Kingdom for which the postage rate is 6d. The rates which the noble Lord quotes are those for ordinary air-mail correspondence. The United Kingdom rate of 1s. 0d. per half ounce is one of a limited number of zonal charges designed to simplify rates without sacrifice of financial equilibrium. It does not follow that the countries to which the United Kingdom 1s. 0d. rate applies will find that rate an economic proposition in the reverse direction. The air-mail postage rates from Jamaica, which are entirely a matter for the Jamaica Government, are also on a zonal basis, and the United Kingdom is in the European zone, for which the rate is 1s. 3d.