§ Sir H. Williamsasked the President of the Board of Trade whether, in view of the strategic necessity of an ample supply of heavy engineering earth-shifting appliances, he will consider arranging for the importation of new equipment of this type, in view of the small quantity of this equipment in good condition which is now available.
§ Mr. BottomleyWe imported more than £2 million worth of special types of this machinery from the United States in 1949. A very wide range of earth-moving equipment is manufactured in this country, and, in addition, this type of machinery can now be imported without import licence from Western Europe and the sterling area. I am not aware that there is at present any need to make special arrangements for further imports, but we shall keep the matter under review.