asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the fact that the gas protocol outlawing the use of poison gas in war, which has been ratified by 27 States and signed by 19 others, does not prohibit the use of tear-gas, smoke-screens and high-explosive gas-shells, steps are being taken by His Majesty's Government to secure their prohibition?

My hon. Friend is under a misapprehension. Tear-gases and shells producing poisonous fumes are prohibited under the Geneva Protocol. Smoke-screens, on the other hand, in so far as they do not contain poisonous elements, are not within the scope of the Protocol.