§ 4. Sir W. Wakefieldasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that at the recent industrial exhibitions at Milan and Brussels the United Kingdom exhibition compared unfavourably with the exhibitions of other countries; and what steps is he taking to ensure that at future industrial exhibitions overseas this state of affairs will not be repeated.
§ Sir H. ShawcrossThe United Kingdom stand at the recent Milan Trade Fair was designed in accordance with the policy recommended in the Ramsden Report on Exhibitions and Fairs (Command Paper 6782 of March, 1946). This Report recommended that Government participation should take the form of an information bureau in support of United Kingdom exhibitors located in their appropriate trade sections.
The United Kingdom stand did not compare unfavourably with those of other countries, such as Canada, who adhered to these principles. Certain countries, however, put on expensive exhibits for reasons of prestige. I believe that the Milan Fair authorities are considering a change in their regulations for future fairs to bring them more into line with the policy to which I have referred. There was no United Kingdom Government participation in the Brussels Fair of 1951.