asked the Minister of Food whether it is proposed in the current year, with the object of encouraging pig production, to permit keepers of one or two pigs to dispose of some proportion of the product to friends and relatives.

I would refer my hon. and gallant Friend to the statement which I made on this subject on 9th June.

asked the Minister of Food whether he can make any statement on the increased consumption of wild birds' eggs.

No, Sir. These products do not come within the control of my Department.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport why, in view of the shortage of labour and material, the Great Western Railway is permitted to carry out extensive restoration of the facade of Temple Meads Station, Bristol.

I assume that my hon. Friend's Question refers to the repairs carried out on the clock-tower of Temple Meads Station, which was damaged in an air raid. I am advised that the masonry of the tower was in an unsafe condition, and that the work was necessary in the interests of public safety.

asked the Secretary of State for Air to what extent a policy of dismissing administrative officers who volunteered for service at the outbreak of war and who are now over 40 years of age has been adopted in the R.A.F.; whether these officers are given adequate notice; and what are their pension or gratuity rights.

It is the policy of the Air Ministry to review the position of all officers, irrespective of age, who have ceased to be the most suitable available for their present employment and for whom there is no alternative employment. Such reviews are necessary, first to maintain the greatest efficiency of the Service, and, secondly, to ensure that young and energetic officers do not find their way to advancement blocked by these less efficient and older officers. Non-regular officers, if called on to resign, are given 42 days' notice on full pay and allowances. They are not eligible for pension unless invalided for a disability attributable to the conditions of service. No decision has yet been taken on the general question of war gratuities, which is not a matter for the Air Ministry alone.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what regulations preclude the enlistment of Austrian subjects in the service of U.N.R.R.A.; and why.

This question is one for the Director-General of U.N.R.R.A. It is understood he has the point under consideration.

asked the Minister of Information why the Chief Postal Censor has declined to allow copies of the "Southend Standard" to be sent through the post.

The sending of local newspapers through the post to addresses overseas was prohibited in April as a security measure in connection with the preparations for landing in Western Europe.

asked the Minister of Health whether he can now make a statement regarding the effectiveness of immunisation in diphtheria cases or whether he considers this method should be dropped, having regard to some 53,000 cases being reported in 1916, with no immunisation and fewer public health services and just over 50,000 cases being reported in the third year of the present war, when approximately one-third of the children had been immunised.

Yes, Sir. The number of notified cases of diphtheria fell from about 50,000 in 1941 to 34,000 in 1943, and the number of deaths from 2,641 to 1,370. The 1943 figures are in both respects the lowest ever recorded. By the end of last year about half of the child population was immunised. It is estimated that in two years, 1942–43, about 5 out of 6 of the children notified as suffering from diphtheria, and about 29 out of 30 of those who died from it, were not immunised.

asked the Minister of Health in how many cases of cancer a recently discovered drug has been used successfully to either inhibit or cure the disease; whether it is being made available to all hospitals; and in how many similar cases it has not proved so successful or encouraging in its results.

Without more information I cannot trace the drug to which my hon. Friend refers. When therapeutic discoveries are made, the usual practice is for the persons concerned to publish their results in the medical Press; the knowledge is thus made available to the whole profession.