asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food whether he has considered the communication from the Cowdenbeath Co-operative Society on the question of milk supplies; that while the announced reduction is 10 per cent, the actual reduction being experienced by this society is between 30 per cent, and 40 per cent.; that the society finds it impossible to provide supplies to its 5,000 members; and will he see that this serious deficiency is immediately made good?

I have made inquiries and find that the Cowdenbeath Cooperative Society obtains its milk supplies from the Dunfermline Co-operative Society. Although for a short time the former society was receiving inadequate supplies, it is now being offered more milk than it requires.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Food what steps he proposes to take to secure a more equitable distribution of eggs?

I have nothing to add to the answer given on 27th November to a similar Question asked by the hon. Member for East Ham, South (Mr. Barnes).

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether his attention has been drawn to the position of refrigerators under the Plant and Machinery Control No. 2 Order, 940; arte whether he has any statement to make?

Under the Order in question, the supply of refrigerating machinery and plant is subject to licence. This ensures that they are acquired only by persons who are engaged in work of national importance and conserves materials, capacity and labour for war production.

asked the Secretary of State for War why the wife of Gunner N. S. Aston, 1091431, 18th Division, Royal Artillery, whose address is 361, Meadow Lane, Iffley Road, Oxford, has received no allowance since her husband's call up on the 15th October, 1940?

Gunner Aston joined his unit on 22nd October. The regimental paymaster, Royal Artillery, telegraphed the unit on 23rd October to ascertain if the man had joined. The unit replied that joining had been reported in Part II Order dated 26th October. These Orders were received by the regimental paymaster on 28th October, and an Army allowance book was posted to Donnington Post Office, Oxford, on 31st October, Mrs. Aston at the same time being sent the necessary form to complete. The allowance book was acknowledged by the Post Office on 4th November, but the form sent to Mrs. Aston was not returned. The regimental paymaster, Royal Artillery, has now sent a telegram to Mrs. Aston and to the Postmaster, Donnington, to enable the soldier's wife to collect her book.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether the Standing Committee, presided over by the permanent Under-Secretary of State for War, has made any report upon the possibility of reducing the amount of paper work which is at present required of battalion orderly rooms and company offices; and when noticeable results may be expected?

I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer given to my hon. and learned Friend the Member for East Leicester (Mr. Lyons) on 22nd October last, of which I am sending him a copy.

asked the Secretary of State for War whether experience shows that the full Army ration accorded to members of the Auxiliary Territorial Service is consumed by them or not?

As I stated in answer to a Question by the hon. Lady the Member for Dartford (Mrs. Adamson) on 17th September, the normal type of soldier's ration has proved too heavy for women in some respects and deficient for women in other respects; and a new and more appropriate scale has been introduced. Should the whole of this modified ration not be needed for any reason, it would not be drawn.

asked the Secretary of State for War what arrangements exist in the different camps to keep and preserve food which is issued in ration form but which is not required by the troops for whom it is intended; and whether, in any such cases, food of the kind has to be thrown away because of its serious deterioration?

Commanding officers are instructed that, where rations drawn prove to be surplus to requirements, the excess is to be balanced by a subsequent underdrawal in order to avoid waste. Camps are provided with normal larder facilities. (Rations are drawn daily, and there should never be a surplus which cannot be absorbed before food becomes unfit for consumption.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings if it is proposed to meet the demand for cement by reconditioning and restarting as much of the old machinery, scrapped in' the rationalisation process, as is recoverable; and whether he is satisfied that raw materials such as blast furnace slag, and lime, which are now under-employed, are abundant?

There is no available old machinery capable of being used in connection with the manufacture of cement that has not been, or is not being, brought into use to augment supplies of Portland cement or blast furnace cement. The quantities of blast furnace slag suitable for making cement are limited; arrangements to use it are now in hand. There is at present a surplus of lime and the problem here is one of increasing its use in order to keep the industry working.

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will take the necessary steps to make the use of the special tracks for pedal cyclists, where they exist, compulsory?

There are less than 200 miles of these tracks at present, mostly short lengths, and I do not think that it would be desirable to make their use compulsory until we have a greater mileage available.

asked the Minister of Transport the number and names of the stations on each of the four main railways at which trolleys with food are provided for members of the Fighting Forces who cannot afford meals on the train?

I have asked for the information and will send it to my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the inability of the railway companies to offer a meal to soldiers at 6d. a head, he will state exactly what food they were asked to provide for this amount; whether he is aware that sufficient satisfying food can be provided for this sum; and what steps he proposes to take to supersede the railway companies in the matter?

The railway companies were not asked to provide any specific types or quantities of food. They have advised me that it would not be possible for them to offer a satisfactory meal for the amount suggested. On the last part of the Question I would refer my hon. Friend to the answer which I gave on 11th December to my hon. Friend, the Member for East Stirling (Mr. Woodburn).

asked the Minister of Information whether steps have been taken to bring forcibly before the inhabitants of Eire by broadcasts, through the Press and by other means, the fate that has befallen many European countries such as Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Norway who relied on their neutrality to save them from German invasion and seizure; and whether their attention has been drawn to the parallel situation that might arise in their case?

I can hardly believe that the intensive propaganda suggested by my hon. Friend is necessary or that the lesson of what has happened to Belgium, Holland, Denmark and Norway can fail to be in the minds of everyone in Eire.

asked the Minister of Information the reason for the resignation of Mr. Frank Pick; the amount of notice given to him of Mr. Pick's intention to resign; and whether any period was a term of the appointment?

Mr. Pick offered my right hon. Friend his resignation and after giving the matter very careful consideration he decided that it was desirable to accept it in spite of the considerable services which Mr. Pick had rendered to the Ministry. The answer to the last part of the Question is in the negative.

asked the Minister of Agriculture the numbers now engaged in agriculture and the numbers employed in 1938?

I regret that I am unable to disclose statistics of the numbers of persons employed on agricultural holdings at the present time. The number of workers returned on 4th June, 1933, in England and Wales was 593,000.

asked the Postmaster-General whether, in view of the widespread lack of accurate knowledge amongst relatives as to the correct channels of communication with prisoners of war, he will consider arranging periodic broadcasts giving full details of the correct and speediest methods of sending letters, cables, parcels and money, thereby obviating much avoidable and distressing delay?

Steps are being taken in the direction suggested by my hon. and gallant Friend.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it is now possible for relatives and friends in this country, of people living in the Channel Islands, to communicate with them; and, if so, what is the medium through which such communications should be made?

Yes, Sir. The Red Cross message scheme, details of which can be obtained from any local Citizens' Advice Bureau, has now been extended to include the Channel Islands.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he can give the House any information with regard to the recent arrest of some 4,000 British subjects in Paris, and their despatch for internment to unknown destinations?

Perhaps my hon. Friend would postpone this Question, since I am not to-day in a position to give the full information desired.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that Frenchmen in French aircraft and motorcar factories, both in occupied and unoccupied France, are now being required by the Germans to repair and recondition German aeroplanes used for attacking Great Britain; whether he has any information as to other French munition workers having been removed to Germany to assist in the making of munitions of war, and as to whether this collaboration with Germany against France's former Allies was provided for in the armistice terms; and whether representations will be made to the Vichy Government in this matter?

There is good reason to think that factory workers in occupied France are being forced to work for German war requirements and it may well be that some of them have been removed to Germany for this purpose. The French Government have, of course, no power to control the uses to which French labour is put in occupied France. So far as His Majesty's Government are aware, there is no conclusive evidence to show that factories in unoccupied France are being used for the repair of German aircraft. This is not a matter which is covered by the terms of the Franco-German armistice, and His Majesty's Government do not consider that any useful purpose would under present circumstances be served by making it the subject of representations to the French Government.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will give par- ticulars of the Government stock or securities redeemed or repaid during the same period as the recently announced sum of £475.000,000 was invested in such stock or securities?

I assume my hon. and gallant Friend desires particulars of the sums repaid on the same securities as those in which the sum of £475.000,000 was invested. The figures are as follows:

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the broadcast recently made to the United States of America by Sir Robert Vansittart, Chief Diplomatic Adviser to His Majesty's Government, represented the views of His Majesty's Government?

The broadcasts recently given by Sir Robert Vansittart, although made with the approval of His Majesty's Government, were not official statements made on their behalf.

asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury how many persons now in the armed services or employed in Government Departments are, or were, members of the British Union of Fascists, the Link, the Imperial Fascist League, the Right Club and the Nordic League; and how many employés have been dismissed since the beginning of the war for this reason?

The information is not available.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can yet say how many of the missing from the "Patria" were men, women and children, respectively; why as the ship took so long to sink, more were not saved; and whether a commission is inquiring into the circumstances?

I am not yet in a position to give the details asked for in the first part of the Question. The High Commissioner reports that a final check is now proceeding, and that definite figures will be communicated at as early a date as possible. With regard to the second part, my information is that the ship heeled and settled on the bottom within 15 minutes. Some 1,570 persons were rescued. Any suggestion that the efforts of those engaged in the work of rescue left anything to be desired is strongly resented. It is entirely without foundation. On the contrary, the rescue work was undertaken with the utmost promptitude and was carried out with conspicuous courage and devotion. Two British constables of the Palestine police are reported as missing and it is feared that they have lost their lives following the rescue operations. The reply to the third part of the Question is in the affirmative.

asked the Minister of Shipping why his Department authorised the use of the "Patria" for taking refugees from Palestine when there was such urgent need for ships in the Mediterranean?

The illegal immigrants whom it was considered necessary to remove urgently from Palestine were placed on board the "Patria," then at Haifa, for carriage to an intermediate port en route to a port where the vessel was required for special service.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement informing Parliament what steps are being taken in the Colonial Empire to meet the new economic difficulties in the respective Colonies due to loss of markets, lack of shipping and inadequate storage; what encouragement is being given to increase local industries, to grow subsistence crops, to store or process exportable crops, to obtain the requisite machinery and maintain the standard of living?

The various measures mentioned by my hon. Friend and others necessary for the adjustment of economic conditions due to the war are kept constantly in mind and practical steps towards them are taken as opportunity offers. The preparation of a statement of all such steps taken by the Colonial Office and by Colonial Administrations would, however, involve an amount of work which would not be justified at the present moment. Announcements have already been made about arrangements for the purchase of the cocoa crop of British West Africa and for the guarantee of a minimum return to banana producers in Jamaica, and J shall be happy to furnish information on any other specific matters which may be raised.

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the extension m principle of compulsory service to Africans in Kenya in respect to work of a military character, what arrangements will be made in the selection of the Africans required and what provision will be made for such conscripted natives in the matter of pay, health, allowances, pensions, food standards, etc.?

Recourse to conscription for work of a military character has not yet been found necessary. If it should become necessary, quarters, rations and medical attention for conscripted Africans will be provided on the scale approved for the military labour service units, while pay will be based on current civil rates for similar work. No provision for pensions is proposed, since it is expected that the work should be done in back areas and for short periods only. In replying to my hon. Friend's Question of 4th December, I stated the conditions of service for the East African military labour service units. Regulations for the grant to members of these units of pensions and gratuities for award on death or disability have been drafted but have not yet been received by the Secretary of State.

asked the Home Secretary whether the London regional works adviser, and the technical adviser, work in collaboration with the Works and Buildings Ministry; who are the occupants of these posts; what is their salary; and whether they give their whole time to the work?

The Regional Works Adviser is Sir Clement Hindley, K.C.I.E., and the senior technical adviser is Mr. A. Croad, A.M.I.C.E. They are full time officers and their salaries are £1,000 and £750 per annum respectively. They maintain close liaison with the Ministry of Works and Buildings in all matters of common interest.

asked the Home Secretary why, in parts of London, the debris of houses with electric and other fittings is being dumped in basements of wrecked houses; whether this practice is general; and whether, in view of the later need for digging it all up again, he will consider modifying the policy?

The general practice in clearing debris is to recover such articles immediately. When they are to be seen in basements as described it would be either because they had been hastily cleared to facilitate rescue of trapped individuals and would subsequently be recovered as quickly as possible, or are deliberately stored in basements as a temporary expedient while waiting transport.