asked the Minister of Supply (1) whether he will take steps to secure the manufacture of automatic electric toasters in the United Kingdom, or allow the importation of such toasters from the U.S.A.;(2) whether he will take steps to secure the manufacture of electric razors in the United Kingdom, or allow the importation of such razors from the U.S.A and Switzerland.

As these articles cannot be regarded as an urgent need, any substantial importation from hard currency sources is out of the question at the present time. Since they will, however, be much in demand in the future, a number of licences to manufacture have been issued, and we are pressing manufacturers to develop their production, mainly at present for the purposes of export.