asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will introduce legislation to prevent the sale of sodium chlorate in a powdered form as a weed killer, in view of the temptation to children to use this substance to create home-made explosives.

Sodium chlorate, which is dangerous only when mixed with certain other substances, has many practical uses besides that of a weed-killer and I doubt whether the statutory control of its sale would be justifiable or effective as a safeguard against the danger referred to. Action is being taken in other ways to minimize the possibility of this substance being misused by children.