§ Mr. Ripponasked the Lord Privy Seal (1) what effect the new proposed reduction in the British Broadcasting Corporation's overseas service will have upon the relay station in Singapore;
(2) how many overseas listeners are likely to be lost as a result of the new proposed reduction in the British Broadcasting Corporation's overseas service;
(3) by what percentage the overseas service will be reduced by the new proposed reduction in the British Broadcasting Corporation's overseas service;
(4) what effect the new proposed restriction in the British Broadcasting Corporation overseas service will have upon broadcasting in the following languages: Hausa, Swahili and Somali;
(5) in what areas and countries of the world the English language world service will cease to be available if the new proposed reduction in overseas services takes place;
(6) what effect the new proposed reduction in the British Broadcasting Corporation's overseas services will have upon broadcasts in the following languages: Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Malay, Hindi, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Nepali;
(7) how many countries and how many services will be affected by the new proposed reduction in the British Broadcasting Corporation's overseas services;
(8) in what areas and what countries of the world the British Broadcasting Corporation's vernacular broadcasting will (a) cease and (b) be reduced if the new proposed reduction in overseas services takes place.
§ Mr. BlakerMinisters are having discussions with the BBC to see whether and how all the vernacular services might be maintained.