asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that recruits are not trained for skilled trades unless they sign for a, long term; that this is resulting in the demobilisation groups among tradesmen in the R.A.F. being behind schedule and is causing dissatisfaction among tradesmen; why recruits are thus refused skilled tradesmen's courses when servicemen's release is dependent on replacements; and if he will give the number of recruits trained to replace riggers as compared with the number released.

asked the Secretary of State for Air to what extent the delay in releasing airmen who are mustered in the electrical trades is due to the fact that no recruits are being trained as electricians unless they agree to join the R.A.F. as Regulars; and whether he will modify his policy in this matter.

I am glad to assure the hon. Members that, except for a few trades in which we have enough men, we are enlisting anyone with suitable qualifications, whether he is a National Service entrant or a volunteer. If, however, the hon. Members have reason to think that suitable recruits have been, in fact, refused in any trade where release is now delayed, I will be grateful if they will send me any information they may have.

In the trades which my hon. Friend describes as riggers, 57,400 men have been released, while 8,900 new entrants have been trained. For them, as for electricians, release is delayed, not because suitable recruits have been refused, but because we are short of men to meet our needs.

Is the Minister not prepared to give the same length of training now as operated during the war, so as to accelerate the release of these particular tradesmen?

I have said that, except in a very few trades where we have enough men, recruits are being taken for a short term. If that is not clear, perhaps my hon. Friend and I might discuss it together.

Does the Minister not realise that there is considerable dissatisfaction in sections of the Royal Air Force on this matter?

Yes, I realise that all too well, but I am afraid that it is due to a shortage of men.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what progress has been made in the enlistment of recruits in the R.A.F.

The Royal Air Force is seriously short of volunteers for enlistment. There have been recent signs of an upward trend but there is still a long way to go. We shall need help from all quarters in securing recruits, and I am anxious that the House should have full information about what is being done. I am therefore considering whether it would be useful to publish progress reports at regular intervals of time.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say how far the intake of new recruits falls short of the needs of the Service?

That is very difficult to say with an upward trend, but there is still a very large deficit.

Can my right hon. Friend say whether he is yet prepared to accept recruits for the women's unit? At the moment they are being refused and many wish to join or rejoin.

Perhaps my hon. Friend can let me have his information on the subject.

Will the Minister give an assurance that, in future, the Royal Air Force will not wait for the Army to come out with improvements in the Service but will be original in this matter, and will make the Service attractive for the purpose of their recruiting campaign?

asked the Secretary of State for Air how much will be the charge on public funds in respect of the new peacetime R.A.F. magazine called "The Review"; how much revenue from advertising it is estimated will be available to offset this; how many copies will be printed; and what is the total weight of paper per year which will be consumed.

The "Royal Air Force Review" replaces two war-time publications. It is an official paper which is at present issued free to the Service once a month. The circulation will come down, as the R.A.F. is reduced in size, but on the present basis it is estimated that the cost to public funds for paper and printing will be about £6,300 a year and the net revenue from advertising about £1,500. This calculation is based on an average monthly issue of 43,000 copies, for which 33 tons of paper a year would be required.

Could the Secretary of State inform the House whether this publication is being issued under Paper Regulation No. 70 or whether it is getting its paper supplies through some other source?

I do not think I know the answer to that. But I do not expect that Paper Regulation No. 70 applies, because, as I have said, it is replacing two publications recently discontinued.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will consult with the Governments of the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. with a view to publishing estimates of the casualties and material destruction caused by Allied air raids on the main centres of population in Germany.

As my hon. Friend is, no doubt, aware, the United States Government published a summary report some time ago on the results of the Allied air attack on Germany. I am sending him a copy of this report, and I think he will find that it contains much of what he wants. My Ministry have already obtained all the additional information which we require, and, when the facts have been studied and assessed, we shall certainly consider whether it will be useful to publish a more detailed report of our own.

Does not the Minister realise that for the sake of future peace it is necessary for the world to know how much our ex-enemies suffered, as well as how much suffering they inflicted on others, as soon as full details are available?

I think my hon. Friend will find a great deal in the United States report, which has already been published.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will state the estimated German population and the estimated non-German population in each of the four zones in Germany.

Accurate figures will not be available until after the census which is to be held at the end of this month. The latest estimates are:

		Germans.	Non-Germans.
British zone	…	23,122,000	320,000
American zone	…	17,745,000	467,300
Russian zone	…	22,000,000	600
French zone	…	5,785,000	42,600

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what British-edited German language newspapers are being printed in Germany; what is the circulation of each in the four zones, shown separately; and what plans there are for increasing the circulation.

One British-edited German language newspaper, "Die Welt," is printed in Germany. It circulates only in the British zone and the British sector of Berlin. Its circulation was yesterday increased to 500,000, and it is now being published three times a week.

Is the right. hon. Gentleman aware that the efforts of British publicity and propaganda throughout Germany for the purpose of explaining the British point of view to the man in the street are thoroughly inadequate, and will he undertake to overhaul and improve the whole machinery?

I presume that the hon. and gallant Member's supplementary question refers to the original question, namely, the Press? Our purpose is to increase the publication of "Die Welt," which is much appreciated in Germany, up to 1,000,000 copies as soon as possible, but the restrictions on such publicity are very severe at the moment due to the shortages of paper supplies, paper pulp and raw materials.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether he will report on the question of how arrangements for the accommodation of wives and families of British personnel in Germany are working.

A good start has been made with the scheme. As a result of the acute shortages existing in Germany, the accommodation and household equipment which can be made available falls short of prewar standards. In many cases families are housed in two to four rooms with two families sharing one kitchen and bathroom. Extra accommodation is, however, always arranged for families with several children, and every effort is made to provide suitable accommodation for all ranks. An adequate standard of comfort has, I think, been achieved, but this will be improved as more accommodation and household supplies become available. No family is given sailing orders until accommodation has actually been arranged for them.

Is the Minister satisfied with the present policy of taking wives and families over there, and does he not consider that it would be better to concentrate on giving the men the opportunity to come over here?

The latter part of the question has been given very full consideration, but I think it will be generally agreed by the House that it was inevitable that there should be provision for as many as possible of the personnel in Germany to have the amenities of home life at the earliest possible stage. I might say that I discussed this very question with representative Germans in the various parts directly affected, and they share that opinion.

May I ask whether the Minister will consider changing the policy and that, instead of turning the German families out of their homes, a system whereby they lose all their possessions, he will make arrangements for such homes to be shared between the British and Germans as was done after the last war?

It is not true to say that the Germans who are removed from their homes lose all their possessions. It has been very definitely laid down that they cannot be removed until there is suitable alternative accommodation for them, and that is one of the reasons why we have to proceed with the reception of the families according to the alternative accommodation that can be made available.

Is the Minister aware that the evidence of everybody who has visited Germany is to the effect that there is no suitable alternative accommodation, and will he give instructions that people are not to be removed, but that the sharing of homes is to take place as far as possible?

I would certainly not like to give any such assurance on the last point without very careful consideration. On the first point, I must repeat that suitable alternative accommodation is a condition of any requisitioning and that, so far as people have been removed from their homes for this purpose, they have been suitably provided for.

Is the right hon. Gentleman not aware that the opinion of private persons who have been to Germany is that there is no suitable alternative accommodation, and can he not tell us what the size of this problem is? How many families have been removed and how many families have gone from this country?

I can give the figures of the families gone to date. The number of families who have so far been granted travel allocations is: Military, 468 wives and 514 children; civilian, 771 wives and 848 children. Of these, 728 wives and 790 children in all have now gone. That is the position so far. As to suitable alternative accommodation, I think that quite a lot of the impressions gathered by casual visitors to Germany have been due to a confusion of certain other housing problems, which are very severe, with the situation of those people who are moved from their houses for the purpose of providing this accommodation.

Will the Minister say whether the Germans who are turned out of their homes have any right of appeal and, if so, to whom?

They can appeal to the German authorities. The organisation of the removals and the provision of alternative accommodation are in the hands of housing committees set up by the local German authorities on which representatives of such organisations as trade unions are represented.

In view of the fact that serious allegations on this point are made from all quarters, will the Minister sponsor an official delegation of this House to investigate the problem?

I do not know what serious allegations are referred to. The only allegation made so far is that suitable alternative accommodation is not provided for those who are removed from their homes, which allegation I am prepared to refute because I have made a personal investigation into it on a wide scale. I do not think that a delegation composed of Members of this House for the purpose of inquiring into that question would be more beneficial than the many delegations who have gone over to Germany to investigate this and other questions.

Is the Minister aware that the luxury living and self-indulgence of many of these wives is having a most depressing effect on the German civilians among whom they have been planted?

On the contrary, there is no evidence in my possession of any luxury living on the part of these people. The fact is that owing to the conditions in Germany, and because of the shortages not only of accommodation but of commodity goods and household equipment, they are living in conditions which are not comparable with those to which they would be entitled at home or in any other place, but they are cheerfully putting up with it in most cases. In all cases that I have examined they are on excellent terms with their German neighbours.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster why a decision has been taken to blow up the administrative buildings of the T.V.A. factory at Eckernforde, near Kiel, in view of the fact that the buildings are urgently required for hospital purposes, and whether he will give instructions that these and similar buildings are to be preserved.

These buildings formed part of the main German torpedo research and testing establishment which throughout the two world wars was the centre of German torpedo production. They were accordingly scheduled for destruction under the Quadripartite Agreement for the elimination of German war potential. Buildings scheduled for destruction may, however, be temporarily retained if they are required to meet the needs of the occupying Powers or authorised civilian needs of the Germans, and the question of the retention of these buildings as of other such buildings in the Kiel area is under consideration; account will be taken of the claims of interested German civilian authorities.

Will my hon. Friend take some steps to prevent the Navy going completely mad in this matter and going round Germany blowing everything up? Does he not agree that steps are necessary to stop them behaving in this dastardly manner?

The Naval Division is under the Allied Control Commission, and is not going round Germany blowing everything up. If my hon. Friend will read the answer he will find that the very Question that he has put to me is receiving consideration.

Is it not a fact that the Navy are doing their best to blow up not only this but a great amount of similar accommodation which would be available to civilians, and that in fact it is only with the greatest difficulty that on each occasion they are stopped? Is it not time that some general instructions were issued to these Naval Divisions to hold their hands until suitable alternative accommodation can be provided?

No, Sir, because instructions were given some considerable time ago and steps are being taken in that direction. The building referred to in the. Question was already under consideration in accordance with that policy before the Question was put down on the Order Paper.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what were the birth and death rates in the cities of Hamburg, Cologne, Essen and Dusseldorf in the period since the British occupation; and what were the figures in the last corresponding period before the occupation.

Complete figures are not available, but the birth rates in these four cities over the first six months of this year were 12.9, 12.4, 12.3, and 10.9, while the corresponding death rates stood at 16.0, 14.0, 12.4 and 15.3. For the war period figures are only available in the case of Hamburg where the birth and death rates in the first half of 1945 stood at 11.3 and 17.8 respectively.

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether reparation deliveries out of the British zone of occupation in Germany have yet ceased.

No, Sir.

Can the hon. Gentleman say when these deliveries will cease?

I cannot say that the deliveries will cease. All I can say is that the deliveries are continuing in accordance with the allocations which have been made in the British and other zones.

Are war factories and shipyards still being dismantled and destroyed as part of the reparation policy? Is that being proceeded with?

The elimination of the German war potential, in accordance with the obligation of the Potsdam Agreement, is being carried out. Direct war potential is being eliminated in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, either by destruction or by allocation, for reparation purpose?. The inter-allied Reparations Conference is still continuing.

asked the Minister of Food whether it will now be possible to make available 2,500 tons of olive oil for salad oil in this country.

I sympathise strongly with the hon. Member's intentions. Unfortunately, Spain, Palestine, Portugal, France and French North Africa have all prohibited the export of olive oil; we have got a little from Syria but shall need it all for medicinal purposes. We are, however, trying other sources of supply.

In view of the fact that the right hon. Gentleman has been importing a good deal of fruit from Italy, and in view of the fact that such small quantities of olive oil as could be obtained would count towards the fat ration, would he not consider the possibility of importing olive oil from Italy?

Not unless we can induce the Italians to sell it to us. We cannot make them do so.

Am I to understand that Italy is not among the countries he has just read out?

I did not say that the Italian Government had prohibited the export of olive oil. We have not been able to buy any, but we will try.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that last season Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, both of which are under British control, each had an exportable surplus, and will he say whether any quantities of olive oil came from those countries to this country?

I would need to have notice of that question.

Has the Minister sent any strong buying mission out to Greece —places like Corinth and Patras—to find out what is available, and with authority to buy?

We are closely in touch with the Greek representatives, whom I saw in recent weeks. We hope to buy this and other commodities from Greece, but I think I would be misleading the House if I suggested that there were any large quantities of olive oil.

asked the Minister of Food the estimated total savings of wheat and flour due to bread rationing to 1st October, 1946.

asked the Minister of Food whether he will make a statement on the wheat and bread situation, including the amount that has so far been saved by bread rationing, and the amount of cakes and buns that is now being sold as a result.

The weekly off-take of flour from Ministry-controlled stocks prior to the introduction of bread rationing was, on the average, 101,000 tons; the off-takes during the 10 weeks of rationing have been, for each week as follows, in thousands of tons: 71, 69, 63, 76, 78, 83, 82, 82, 74, 82.

This is an average of 76,000 tons a week and a total of 760,000 tons for the ten weeks. At the old rate total off-take for the 10 weeks would have been 1,010,000 tons, so there is an apparent saving of 250,000. But there was certainly some stocking up before rationing. We put the stocking up figure at some 36,000 tons.

So the real saving in off-take appears to have been about 214,000 tons or about 20 per cent. so far. I hardly think that saving will continue at so high a rate. I am afraid that no separate figures are available for sales of cakes and buns.

On the assumption that these figures are a reliable guide, and having regard to the fact that the Minister was only aiming at 7 per cent., is it not absolutely plain that the British people are being deprived of a considerable amount of flour?

No, Sir. In the first place, I do not know whether the hon. Member was suggesting that the figures were unreliable or not—

I said, on the assumption that they were reliable.

I just wanted to get that point quite clear. On that assumption, the people are not being deprived of the extra saving. They can take out bread units to a higher extent than they are doing. They are exchanging some of them for points goods, for example, and, therefore, they are not being deprived of bread or flour.

Is it not a fact that the community have welcomed the allocation of cakes that they have been able to get since rationing was introduced and which they were not able to get before?

If the right hon. Gentleman has any future statement to make on bread rationing, will he arrange to make it to this House and not to a Press conference, as was reported in the papers this morning?

I was asked a direct question on the future of bread rationing at a Press conference yesterday, and it was necessary for me to answer that question, but now that the House is sitting I will certainly make all such announcements to this House.

I want to press the right hon. Gentleman on this. He gave us to understand that the target was a 7 per cent. saving. He now gives us to understand he has succeeded in saving 20 per cent. Does it not follow from this that he is saving somewhere about 13 per cent. more than was originally regarded as necessary, and is not that a thoroughly bad thing?

No, Sir. The saving has been greater than our extremely conservative estimate—and I am very glad we made a conservative estimate—but it is in a sense very largely a voluntary saving.