White asked the Secretary of State for War when the hon. Member for Canterbury may expect to receive a reply to his letter of 7th February, regarding the compassionate posting of 6300170 Private C. E. Kay, R.W.K. Regiment.

An answer was sent to the hon. Member on 7th March.

asked the Secretary of State for War if, in view of the need for increased food production, he will issue instructions for the immediate removal of derelict barbed wire defences from all productive land in Orkney, with priority for fields which require to be ploughed at an early date.

The War Department normally takes responsibility for physical removal only of temporary defence works which are dangerous to the re-mover. Otherwise the responsibility rests with the appropriate civil department, although military labour is used to the fullest extent possible on the removal of defences or barbed wire no longer required. The civil department responsible for the work in this particular area has sent to the local War Department authorities a list of fields, in order of priority, for the removal of wire, and farmers may, if they can, remove this wire as agents of the War Department. The local military authorities are fully aware of the necessity for making as much land as possible available for food production and are carrying out the work as rapidly as is possible with the limited amount of labour at their disposal.

asked the Secretary of State for War how many acres of land in parks, commons and open spaces in the County of London are now occupied by the services; and whether, in view of the recent encroachments made on these open spaces for temporary housing he is now in a position to say when they will be returned to the local authorities for the common use of the people.

Approximately 287 acres of land are at present held within the County of London. As regards the second part of the Question, I am not in a position to add anything to the reply given to my hon. Friend on 19th November last.

asked the Minister of Works the number of brickworks and tileries closed in North Staffordshire during the war which are still out of operation; and what steps are being taken to bring them into full production.

Of the brick and tile works in this area closed during the war, 42 are not yet in production, but licences to produce have been issued to 16 of them and further licences are in course of issue. Applications for release under Class B have been made for all workers whose names have been submitted by the employers and all other possible steps are being taken to provide the necessary labour recruitment.

asked the Minister of War Transport how many inquiries into road accidents have there been under Section 23 of the Road Traffic Act of 1930.

Four formal inquiries have been held. In addition, informal investigations have been made into a very large number of accidents which appeared to be due to defects in vehicles or in roads.

asked the Minister of War Transport if he will do all in his power to provide, from redundant service vehicles, vans for ex-Servicemen who are engaged in the distributive trade, especially for Mr. Hillier of 3, Rocks Cottages, Chelsfield, Kent

There is now no control over the allocation of surplus Government goods vehicles available for sale to the public. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of a notice issued to the Press on the subject.

asked the Minister of Agriculture why the ploughing order, issued in Denbighshire last October, stipulated that only half the previous year's amount of potatoes were required.

The target for potatoes in Denbighshire for 1945 was 4,500 acres and was exceeded. The War Agricultural Executive Committee have served compulsory directions for 4,200 acres for 1946. Directions served on some individual farmers may quite properly have been for less than the acreage directed for 1945 where it was considered that a smaller compulsory acreage was warranted by the circumstances of a particular farm. Any farmer is free to grow more than his allotted minimum quota if he wishes.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware that wholesalers are refusing to supply rubber hot-water bottles to retail pharmacists, except on the receipt of doctors' certificates and if steps will be taken to overcome retailers' difficulties in this respect.

Wholesalers are not authorised to refuse supplies to retailers if medical certificates are not provided. But, as I told my hon .Friend on 18th February, it is desirable that a medical certificate should be given some priority if in the opinion of the patient's doctor a rubber hot water bottle is necessary for the purposes of treatment.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of the difficulty experienced by Messrs. Shanks and Company, Limited, of Barrhead, in securing sufficient stitched cotton mops, the shortage of which is holding up production of many fittings for houses and for export; and whether he will arrange to increase production of these mops.

1 am aware of the shortage of stitched cotton mops and, to meet the difficulty, a substantial increase has been made in the yarn allocation for this purpose for the current quarter.

asked the Minister of Health whether he has considered the letter sent to him by 50 State-registered nurses on the staff of the Manchester Royal Infirmary; and what action he proposes to take on the matters raised therein.

Yes, Sir. I have already replied to the effect that the rates of pay of all nurses, including student nurses, are under consideration by the Rushcliffe Committee. In these matters I must be guided by that Committee.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will consider establishing a Ministry of Fine Art.

No, Sir.

asked the Prime Minister if he will consider the establishment of a separate department to deal exclusively with the reclamation and disposal of all surplus Government stores in order to avoid the inter-Departmental delays now taking place; and to make all surplus stores available to the public as quickly as possible.

No, Sir. General Sir Wilfrid Lindsell has been appointed to act in the name of the President of the Board of Trade as the Government's executive officer for the disposal of surplus stores and his authority runs over the whole field of manufactured civilian stores.

asked the Minister of Pensions whether he will consider the question of granting a small pension to the dependants of Servicemen and women who died from natural causes whilst on active service away from this country; what is the approximate number involved; and what would be the cost.

Where death is hastened by the effects of war service, pension is admissible as though death had occurred in action. I am, however, unable to recommend any departure from the long-established principle, recently affirmed by the Government, that for the award of pension in respect of death there must be a casual connection between death and war service. I regret that the records of my Department are not in such a form as to enable me to give the number of deaths from natural causes occurring on service overseas.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if his attention has been drawn to action taken by Edinburgh emigration officers in repatriating to Poland four young Poles whose names have been submitted and who had arrived in Scotland as stowaways, seeking asylum in this country, having escaped from Poland; and will he take measures to prevent a repetition of such action.

These cases received my careful consideration and I came to the conclusion that no special exception could be made. If control of immigration is to be maintained, it is essential that no encouragement should be given to the idea that persons who come to this country illegally will receive preferential treatment and be afforded facilities which would not otherwise be available to them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what further views have been received from the Malay rulers on the policy of His Majesty's Government in regard to Malaya.

First, some of the rulers have asked that the separate position of the individual States and the individual rulers, and their independence from any central Malayan authority, should be preserved to a greater degree than is proposed under the new policy. Particular points which have been made under this head are as follow:

(a) that the State Governments should control their own finances and allot money to the Central Government.

(b) that alienation of State land should be a matter for decision by each State Council,

(c) that the Rulers should have control over the decisions of the State Councils and over their membership,

(d) that the oath of allegiance should be to the Ruler in each State and not to the Malayan Union.

Secondly, it has been strongly represented by some of the rulers that the proposal to make legislation on Muhammadan religious matters subject to the Governor's consent represents an unwarrantable interference in Muhammadan affairs, and that the complete independence of the Malay rulers and people with regard to these affairs should be more fully safeguarded. Particular points which have been made are:

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether he will adopt the Paris system of dialling three letters in order to receive the latest news bulletin on the telephone.

No, Sir. The possibility of introducing a service on the lines of the Paris system was being examined before the war, but I cannot undertake to pursue the matter so long as the resources of the Post Office are concentrated in meeting the heavy demand for the provision of basic services.