43.
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he accepts the recommendation of the Monopolies Commission that resale price maintenance does not operate against the public interest so far as the cigarette and tobacco industry is concerned nor may be expected to do so; and what steps he proposes to take to ensure that due regard is had to the Monopolies Commission's investigations into this matter in connection with the inquiry which his own Department is currently making into resale price maintenance generally.
I would ask my hon. Friend to refer to the Answer that I gave on this subject to the right hon. Member for Battersea, North (Mr. Jay), and to the hon. Member for Bolton, West (Mr. Holt), on 11th July. With regard to the latter part of the Question, I will, of course, bear in mind what both the majority and the minority of the Monopolies Commission have said on the subject of resale price maintenance in the tobacco industry when I receive the results of the inquiry that I am having made into resale price maintenance generally.