asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will make any further statement as to the food situation in France, Belgium and Holland.

I cannot usefully add anything at present to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State on 14th February. The House will, however, very shortly have an opportunity to discuss the general question of supplies for liberated areas, when all our latest information will be given.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if, in view of the political difficulties experienced by U.N.R.R.A. and other committees set up in recent enemy-occupied territory, he will consider asking Members of Parliament and others with political experience to visit and advise on their difficulties with the authorities where they are operating.

It is not clear what political difficulties and what committees in recently enemy-occupied territory my hon. and gallant Friend has in mind. But I am assured that the authorities of the European Regional Office of U.N.R.R.A. in London would welcome visits from my hon. Friend and other Members of Parliament who are interested in U.N.R.R.A.'s work.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind the difficulties experienced after the last war in dealing with political questions, and that the committee then set up did not visualise that political questions would have to be dealt with?

I can assure my hon. and gallant Friend that those political diffi- culties are very much in my mind. The difficulty I have is to get them out of my mind.

asked the Prime Minister if, in view of the difficulties experienced by commissions of control set up after the last war in. dealing with political and other questions outside their military knowledge, he will consider making use of Members of Parliament and others with political experience.

It is very desirable that commissions of control should include persons with political experience, but I believe most hon. Members would find difficulty in combining such employment with their legislative duties.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is now considering in detail which of the existing airfields it will be necessary to retain after the war for military or civil flying, and which will. be available for housing, agriculture and other ordinary public and private purposes; and if he will be able in the near future to communicate his decisions in this matter, if necessary under conditions of secrecy, to the local authorities and others concerned.

asked the Secretary of State for Air when he hopes to be in a position to make a statement with regard to the disposal and the future of airfields, particularly with reference to the future of agricultural development.

The use to which airfields will be put after the war is under active review by His Majesty's Government. As the hon. Members know, many Departments and many interests are concerned, not least the interests of the Royal Air Force itself, whose needs cannot yet be determined. I am unable at present to say when a statement will be made.

With regard to the second part of Question 18, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that large parts of England, particularly East Anglia and Essex, are covered with airfields—far more than could possibly be needed permanently—and that it is very difficult for local authorities to get on with any planning?

I can assure my hon. Friend that I will bear it in mind, and if at any time I fail to bear it in mind, I have colleagues who will very quickly remind me.

May I ask whether the Government have begun to consider the total strength of the Defence Forces that will have to be retained after the war.

That lies behind this Question. Certain consideration is being given to it, but, in the meantime, we have to finish the present war.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether, in future, he will insist on the weighing of all luggage and personal belongings of passengers travelling by Transport Command so as to ensure that there is no question of a verbal estimate of weight given by the passenger himself being accepted without an adequate check being made.

It is the rule in Transport Command that each passenger and his baggage should be weighed. If my hon. and gallant Friend has evidence that this rule is not being observed, I should be grateful if he would send me particulars.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether education officers who served in the ranks before being commissioned are entitled to gratuity, 56 days' leave with pay and ration allowance.

These education officers will be eligible for gratuity in respect of any periods of whole-term war service counting for Service pay; the 56 days' leave with pay and ration allowance will apply only to airmen who remain in the Service until their turn for release comes under Class A of the Re-Allocation of Man-Power Scheme: it will not apply to airmen who are allowed to revert to civilian duties before then, for example, those who have meanwhile of their own accord joined the R.A.F. Educational Service.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will expedite the transferring of huts no longer in use on balloon sites to units of the A.T.C. for their use; and will be also expedite the transference of blister hangars, now surplus to requirements, to gliding sites to replace obsolete and leaking besonneaus.

Surplus balloon huts required by A.T.C. units are made available to them reasonably quickly after the receipt of applications. I regret that the supply position does not permit of the transfer to the A.T.C. of more than the small number of blister hangars which have been offered to the Corps recently.

While thanking the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask if he will expedite the transfer of these blister hangars, because gliders are being ruined and spoiled through being inadequately housed?

I will certainly see if anything can be done to expedite the transfer of the blister hangars which have been promised, but, as I have told my hon. Friend, there will be no supplies available in future.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will arrange for the surplus training equipment formerly used by the initial training wings and which has now been placed in store to be supplied to units of the A.T.C. in order that interest may be maintained in the activities of the corps and the present wastage of cadets correspondingly reduced.

Equipment returned to store by R.A.F. formations, including initial training wings, is used in relief of demands for the maintenance of the R.A.F. as a whole. I am, however, obliged to my hon. Friend for his suggestion, and I am considering whether there are any items of surplus training equipment in main stores, which can be made available for issue to the A.T.C.

While again thanking the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask if he is aware that there is a very large amount of excellent surplus training equipment which is just the sort of thing which would be most helpful to the A.T.C. in maintaining interest in training cadets and which has been used by the initial training wings?

As I have said before, it is in my answer; I am looking into that very point.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he will arrange for the balloon winches, which are now no longer required for operational purposes, to be transferred to the A.T.C. to enable a greater amount of gliding to be done by cadets.

There is still a demand for winches for R.A.F. purposes, but a fair number have already been issued to the Air Training Corps and it is expected that more will shortly be made available.

asked the Secretary of State for Air on what terms the personnel of the balloon barrage are being stood down; and whether they will be granted the same terms as regards leave as are being granted to officers of the R.A.F.V.R. who are being called on to resign their commissions on becoming redundant.

So far as possible, personnel of the Balloon Barrage are being absorbed into other vacancies. Officers who cannot be absorbed have the same entitlement to leave as other officers who are required to resign their commissions on account of redundancy.

asked the Secretary of State for Air how many fatal accidents took place and how many persons were killed in January, 1945, on journeys undertaken by Transport Command other than on main trunk and feeder routes.

In the period referred to, there was one fatal accident to Transport Command aircraft engaged in communications flying other than on the main trunk and feeder routes. The accident occurred on the ground, and involved the death of one airman.

May I ask the right hon. Gentleman whether asking the pilots to decide whether or not a flight should be taken is, in his view the best form of protection?

I think that is far outside the scope of the Question.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the pronouncement by the Economic and Development Secretary of the Government of Kenya that the Government's policy is to get as many settlers on the land as the land would hold economically does represent the present Government policy towards settlement in Kenya.

Yes, Sir, as far as the Highlands are concerned.

Will the right hon. and gallant Gentleman assure us that the House will have an opportunity of discussing and approving settlement schemes before they are actually embarked upon?

Of course, this does not in any way alter the policy which has been continued by successive Governments on reserves of white settlers. It is merely a proposal for the better utilisation of land in Kenya. Certainly, the House, on any Colonial Debate, would have an opportunity of discussing that.

Are we to understand that expenditure will be incurred on the settlement of these persons without the matter being discussed by the House?

I hope that, the next time there is a Colonial Debate, the hon. Gentleman will raise this question.

Can we also take it for granted that the Government will have similar schemes for the development of the economic interests of the natives?

They will not be of the same type. A number of such schemes have already been approved.

Is it not a fact that, wherever there is European settlement, the natives very greatly benefit by such settlement?

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what steps are being taken by the Kenya Government to meet the serious situation caused by the increase in crimes of violence and larceny in the colony.

This question is engaging the serious attention of the Kenya Government and was debated in the Legislative Council in January. The Commissioner of Police has established a flying squad, and the numbers of Asian, Arab and African police are being increased. Other remedial measures are under consideration.

Does not my right hon. and gallant Friend observe that at the Kenya Legislative Council it was suggested that sentences were not effective owing to fear of the views of the people of this country; and will he assure the Governor that this House will support all steps that are necessary to stamp out this wave of crime in Kenya?

I am sure that if anybody is acting in that way, it would be under complete misapprehension as to the views of this House, which, obviously, is quite prepared for measures to be taken to stamp out these illegalities.

asked the Minister of Supply how much paper and binding material was allocated to the Middlesex County Council for their publication, "Middlesex"; what was the value; and who decided the necessity for this publication when there is an acute paper shortage.

I understand that the book to which my hon. Friend refers was printed in 1939.

Is this not a very fine publication?

asked the Minister of Supply whether he is aware that there are, approximately, 5,000,000 tyres lying on rubber dumps throughout the country and that approximately 8 per cent. of these tyres are suitable for re-use after treatment; and what action he proposes to take to make use of these resources.

I am unable to accept my hon. and gallant Friend's estimate of the percentage of usable tyres in scrap rubber depots. A check carried out at one of the largest depots yielded less than 3 per cent. of tyres suitable for re-use after treatment. The probable yield of a large-scale examination of the depots would not justify the employment of the very large labour force required.

Does my right hon. Friend realise that these advertisements to "Save your tyres" are of very little use, so long as these enormous quantities are lying about in dumps in the country?

No, Sir, on the contrary, the "enormous quantities" of tyres of which the hon. and gallant Members speaks, are not fit to be on cars.

Surely my right hon. Friend knows that even if some of these are unsuitable for the road, a very large number could be used on agricultural work?

The amount of labour required to sort out something like 3 per cent. of these tyres would be out of all proportion to any advantage that would be obtained from them.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that labour is urgently needed for houses in this country, and will he prevent the use of labour for supplying tyres to second-hand dealers, some of whose products have already gone into the black market?

Will the right hon. Gentleman take steps to prevent the throwing of comparatively good tyres on to these dumps, and to stop this waste?

I want to make it quite clear that there is no risk of comparatively good tyres getting on to these dumps. Before they go to these dumps, the tyres are all carefully sorted out at our sorting stations. They are closely examined, and any tyre which is fit for re-treading is re-treaded, and any tyre which is fit for re-conditioning is re-conditioned. An odd tyre may slip through an examination of that kind, and I should not like to say that there is no tyre on these dumps that might not be re-conditioned, but I am sure there is no tyre on these dumps that could be re-treaded.

Would they be any good for babies' teats?

Quite apart from the question as to whether these tyres could be reconditioned as tyres, is it not the fact that they contain a valuable proportion of rubber which could reasonably be salvaged?

That is precisely what they are there for. They are being used to the full extent to which reclaimed rubber is in demand at the present time, but the arrival of synthetic rubber has greatly cut down the use of reclaimed rubber, and the number of applications to which reclaimed rubber may be put has been severely limited in the present stringency. However, these tyres will all one day be used.

asked the Minister of Supply, how many used tyres there were on 1st January in dumps throughout the country; how the number compares with that held on 1st January, 1944; and the longest period that material quantities have been so stored since collection.

There were 5,000,000 at the beginning of this year as compared with 3,250,000 at the beginning of last year. I regret that the information asked for in the last part of the Question is not available.

Inasmuch as the stocks appear to have increased substantially during the last 12 months, and there is a great shortage of rubber, cannot more active steps be taken to bring these reserves into use?

I have already explained that the reason these cannot be put into use as reclaimed rubber is because we have no more uses for reclaimed rubber at the present time. However, these tyres will one day, when normal activities are resumed, again be a very valuable stock indeed for reclaimed rubber.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the President of the Board of Trade has been assuring us constantly that he cannot get rubber for various purposes for which we are asking him to allocate it?

There is no purpose for which the Board of Trade would be entitled to get rubber, and for which they would not be supplied, if this rubber were suitable.

In order to give the right hon. Gentleman an opportunity of explaining more fully to the House what he has in mind, I propose to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Minister of Supply what steps he is taking to use the stocks of used tyres in the production of new ones; how. the quality of tyres now being produced compares with those produced before the war; and whether he is satisfied with the result of using natural and artificial rubber for different parts of the same tyre.

Of the total supply of tyres for civil purposes in 1944, about one-third consisted of used tyres which had been reconditioned. Reconditioned tyres are also used by the Services. In addition, reclaimed rubber from used tyres unfit for reconditioning is used in making new tyres. The present quality of tyres is necessarily somewhat below that before the war, but I am satisfied that the best use possible is being made of the various materials available.

Is the Minister aware that the re-treading of tyres, as carried out at present, produces thoroughly unsatisfactory results, and that a life of the order of only 1,000 miles is found in practice to be possible?

The hon. Gentleman cannot have it both ways. I have already explained that these tyres, as recovered, are sorted out, and all those that are fit for re-treading are re-treaded and, if they are not fit for re-treading, they go to the dumps. If you do not re-tread, you will send still more to the dumps.

Is the increase in the stocks of used tyres due to the result of the salvage drive; and, as a practical reclaimer, may I ask the Minister if he is aware that the statements he has made are perfectly correct?

asked the Minister of Supply whether he is aware that our weapons have throughout the war lagged behind the enemy's in design; and why, in these circumstances, the Director-General of Artillery has remained unchanged.

No, Sir. The course of the war gives no foundation for any such suggestion and I am glad of the opportunity to pay tribute to the distinguished work of the high officer in question.

Why is it, in view of the fact that our inventions have been a long way ahead of the Germans with regard to propulsion, and so on, that these new things are not in the field?

The range of weapons we have in the field to-day, and the use to which they are being put, will fetch their own reward.

Will my right hon. Friend consult some of the practical soldiers on this matter?

We are in constant touch with the practical soldiers. I do not know why my hon. Friend assumes he has more contact with the professional soldier than we have, but I can assure him that he has not.

Is not the basic cause here that most of this design work has been done by the State, and not, as in the case of the aircraft industry, by efficient and virile private enterprise?

No, Sir, I hope my hon. Friend will not base any defence of private enterprise on that ground.

asked the Minister of Supply if he will give a list of the materials required in buildings which cannot be obtained without first getting a permit from one of his controlling Departments.

Permits from Ministry of Supply controls for materials used directly in buildings are necessary in respect of timber and building board.

Can the Minister state how long it usually takes for his Department to grant these permits?

The shortest time practicable in these matters.

Could he turn that into days or months or weeks? His Department is credited with taking a long time very often.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will grant the same facilities to Greece as have been applied to Turkey in the purchase of dried fruit.

I shall be glad to obtain dried fruit from Greece as soon as supplies suitable for this country become available.

asked the Minister of Food if he will inform the House of the total number of licences to open shops issued to individual unit traders, to branches of multiple shops, and to cooperative societies, respectively, from 17th April, 1944, to 15th January, 1945.

As the answer to the Question involves a statement of figures, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware of difficulties experienced by the people of Aylsham, Norfolk, due to the distance of the food office at Norwich; and will he consider the appointment of a more local representative.

No complaints have reached my Ministry on this matter, although I understand that the local traders' association applied for a sub-food office to be set up in Aylsham some three years ago. The local food control committee then rejected the application.

asked the Minister of Food how much butter has been imported into this country from France during the past six months; and what steps he is taking to counteract the propaganda circulating in France to the effect that this country has been recently importing French butter.

The answer, to the first part of the Question is "None, Sir," and as soon as the report to which my hon. and gallant Friend refers was brought to our notice, a statement was issued to that effect.

Is the right hon. and gallant Gentleman not aware that our men in parts of France and Belgium are buying butter and that it is coming over here; and cannot he take collective action to stop it, as we did in certain other theatres during the last war, since it is not a good thing to do?

The War Office, at the moment, are, at my instigation, investigating whether it is happening or not.

It is happening.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if he will state separately the value of merchandise misappropriated from the four main line railways for each of the years 1939 to 1944 inclusive.

As my answer contains a number of figures, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. In the meantime, my hon. Friend may be interested to know that the total claims paid by the railways in 1939 was £161,000, and for the first nine months of 1944, it had risen to £1,776,192.

Do not the figures indicate that there has been an enormous increase in the number of railway thefts since the beginning of the war? Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that the people of this country are entitled to expect reasonable protection of their property?

Yes, Sir. This is a most serious problem which, I am sorry

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport the reasons for the delay of four years by the Great Western Railway Company in completing the canteen at Oxley Sidings, Wolverhampton; and whether he will take steps to arrange for its completion as early as possible, in view of the concern felt by the men affected.

I will let my hon. Friend know the result when I have completed the inquiries I am now making.

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind that there has been four years' delay already? Will he try to finish his inquiry as early as possible?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport if he will take steps to expedite the repairs to the escalators at Paddington Station, which have now been out of commission for about eight

May we take it that all these activities are to be attributed to private enterprise?

The London Passenger Transport Board are doing everything they can to finish the repairs on the escalators at Paddington Station, but their efforts are hampered by the shortage of labour and material. They hope that one escalator will be working before Easter.

Is my hon. Friend aware that owing to the delay in effecting these repairs at least two, and sometimes three, men are employed on directing traffic? Is not that a gross waste of labour?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of War Transport whether his attention has been called to the inadequate service of trains between London and Hull; whether he is aware that there is only one through train per day in each direction; and whether he will consider improving the service.

Besides one through train in each direction, there are on weekdays seven trains from London which provide reasonable connections to Hull and five trains which do so from Hull to London. In view of the heavy traffic on these lines, I regret that it is not at present possible to increase the services.

Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware that in spite of the fact that there is only one train each way between London and Hull there are more than 10 trains between London and Newcastle, and nearly 20 trains both ways between London and Bradford, and that neither of those cities has a population as large as the City of Hull?

I am aware of that, but it is impossible to arrange matters so that passengers for Hull do not have to change.