§ LORD BARNBYasked Her Majesty's Government:
To state: (a) the cost of the two million gallons of petrol reported as carried on the "air lift" to Zambia; (b) what is the estimated total cost to the United Kingdom up to June 30 of the sanctions imposed on Rhodesia; (c)what would be the estimated annual volume and cost of imports of copper and tobacco from sources other than Zambia and Rhodesia respectively at current prices.
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES AND FOR COMMONWEALTH RELATIONS (LORD BESWICK)(a) The cost of the British civil 776WA airlift which terminated on May 30 and which carried some 2 million gallons of oil into Zambia was £2.2 million.
(b) The total expenditure incurred up to the latest date for which figures are available is about £8½ million. The total cost to the balance of payments is more difficult to assess and no reliable estimate is possible. In the first five months of 1966 British exports to Rhodesia were about £11½ million lower than in the same period of 1965.
(c) (i) Copper: Before the embargo was placed on imports of copper from Rhodesia, the United Kingdom obtained about 1,000 tons of copper a year from this source and about 280,000 tons of copper a year from "Zambia. At current prices the cost of supplies of this order would be about £500,000 and £125,000,000 in a full year respectively.
(ii) Tobacco: United Kingdom imports of tobacco from Rhodesia and Zambia over the past few years have averaged 36,000 tons and 6,000 tons respectively. As a result of our sanctions policy no further purchases of Rhodesian tobacco are being made. If supplies from Zambia were to become unavailable the bulk of an alternative supply would have to come from Canada and the U.S.A.; in both countries tobacco is sold by auction, and as sales in the United States have only just begun while Canadian auctions do not start until November, it is not possible to make any estimates of cost at "current" prices.
House adjourned at twenty-three minutes past seven o'clock.