asked the Minister of Labour whether he has considered a report on wages, hours, and conditions of shop workers submitted to him from a joint committee of employers' organisations and trades' unions; whether he is satisfied that this report also represents the views of small individual shopkeepers; and, if not, whether he will do his best to obtain them?

I received the report only a few days ago and, therefore, I am not yet in a position to make any observations upon it. According to my information the employers' organisations concerned are representative of all classes of employers.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman which organisations are considered representative of the views of the "one-assistant" shopkeeper?

When I had my first discussion nearly two years ago on this matter there was a very large and representative gathering, and every point of view has been represented on the committee which has been engaged on this subject for 18 months.

Is it not a fact that every organisation representative of the small shopkeepers of the type described in the question was fully represented at that conference?