asked the Postmaster-General how many of the £1 Silver Wedding stamps have now been sold to the latest available date.

Up to 1st June, 1948, some 350,000 had been sold.

Could the hon. Gentleman say whether they have been available throughout the Empire and the United States by correspondence if the money has been sent here?

As far as I know they have been made available to the countries mentioned in the supplementary question.

Can my hon. Friend say what proportion of the money received has come from dollar sources?

Not without notice.

asked the Postmaster-General what steps he proposes to take in order to improve the postal communications between the West Indies and this country in view of the delays of upwards of 10 weeks in some cases, an example of which was brought to his notice recently through the London Postal and Tele-communications Advisory Committee of the London Chamber of Commerce.

As my right hon. Friend has explained in correspondence with my hon. Friend, there were serious delays to air mail for the West Indies earlier in the year, owing to circumstances outside his control, but there has been a marked improvement, and I hope that there will be no further difficulty. Two instances of 10 weeks delay to which my attention has been drawn were not, however, due to irregularities in the operation of the air services, and the letters in question must, I fear, have been mistreated in the post; on that assumption the air mail fees have been refunded to the senders.

Does my hon. Friend realise that delays are still occurring? Does he realise how inadequate the postal services are to parts of the West Indies? Will he take steps to look into this matter with a view to improving communications as rapidly as possible, because Colonial development cannot take place unless there are good communications?

Is every opportunity taken of direct sea mail to the West Indies?

Every opportunity is taken. The delay at the beginning of the year was due to a certain extent to the grounding of the Tudor aircraft. So far as the supplementary question of my hon. Friend the Member for West Middlesbrough (Mr. Cooper) is concerned, I will look into that matter.

asked the Secretary of State for Air if he is aware that a number of high explosives and other bombs left over from the late war remain at Rackheath Aerodrome in Norfolk; that some of them have been the cause of a recent outbreak of fire and constitute a potential danger to the village; and if he will take steps to have the bombs removed or otherwise suitably dealt with.

The recent fire at Rackheath Aerodrome was caused by a defective smoke bomb; all bombs of this type there have therefore been examined and defective ones are being destroyed. The stores of bombs now at Rackheath will be removed, either for dumping or to be put in permanent stores, as soon as possible, but I am afraid it will take a long time before the airfield is completely cleared. I will, however, examine the possibility of expediting the work at this station.

asked the Secretary of State for Air what action is being taken to remove high explosive and incendiary bomb dumps from land which could be used to grow crops and timber; and meanwhile to guard these against fire and theft.

Bombs are being steadily cleared from storage areas that are not needed permanently by the R.A.F.; priority is given to such tasks as the clearance of dangerous areas and the disposal of unserviceable and surplus bombs. Subject to certain safety regulations, agriculture is permitted at all airfields which are used for bomb storage. Strict precautions are taken against fire and theft.

Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman make inquiries about certain dumps on non-requisitioned agricultural land which are becoming the homes of a lot of vermin—[Laughter]—I said "a lot of vermin" and not "less than vermin"—and is he aware that a certain number of people are afraid of going out shooting because of these bombs.

Certainly; if the hon. Gentleman will let me have particulars, I shall be glad to look into them.

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will make a statement with regard to the long-standing claim of Mr. Robert Rennie, Whelp-side, Balerno, for damages sustained through flooding of the claimant's land by water from Kirknewton Aerodrome.

I am glad to be able to state that agreement has now been reached with the owner's agent on the amount to be paid in settlement of this claim.

Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that this has taken a year to do—that there has been a year's delay on the part of his officials, who have not answered letters and not carried out undertakings—and will he see that certain repair work which is part of the Agreement is carried out without delay to avoid further damage?

I will look into the suggestion in the latter part of the supplementary question with regard to repair work. So far as the first part of the supplementary question is concerned, my information is that the claim was first put into my Department in October of last year.

June.

If there has been any undue delay, I regret it, but I do not think that there has been.

asked the Secretary of State for Air why the late 1876436 L.A.C. Gaylon was discharged from the Royal Air Force instead of being invalided or treated in the Service, when the medical authorities suspected he was suffering from cancer, the disease from which he has since died.

I have made a careful inquiry into this case and I find that there was no evidence, at the time of his release, that this airman was in fact suffering from cancer. I regret very much that the hon. Gentleman was incorrectly informed, owing to a misunderstanding in my Department, that the Air Ministry medical authorities suspected he had cancer.

Is it not a fact that this man's illness first became apparent during his service, that he spent two long periods in hospital, and that he was discharged when it must have been known that he was seriously ill, because he died of cancer a few months afterwards?

The information that has been given to me by my medical authorities is to the effect that this airman had apparently completely recovered from his operation and was in fact fit and well when he became due for release in May of last year. I am afraid that I can only act upon the evidence that has been supplied to me.

While I accept the explanation, the statement which the right hon. and learned Gentleman has just made is entirely contrary to the contents of a letter which he himself referred to, and which I received.

Yes, Sir. I have already expressed my regret to the hon. Gentleman that that letter was incorrectly phrased.

Can my right hon. and learned Friend urge on his medical authorities not to precipitate the invaliding out of the Service of men who may appear to be seriously ill and who may possibly be suffering from cancer?

I should be very sorry to think that the medical authorities of my Department were in fact doing that. In this particular case, I can only repeat that they have reported to me that in May of last year they were satisfied that the airman, in their opinion, was completely fit.

Will not the Minister get the Government to give fresh consideration to the treatment of men who are suffering from cancer and who are put out of the Service. Will he see that they are either maintained in hospital in the Service, or in hospital when they come out of the Service, and are not thrown out and left to their own resources after they have given service?

I am not prepared to accept the suggestion that these unfortunate men are just thrown out. If any particular case is drawn to my attention which is contrary to what I believe to be the policy, I will gladly make investigation.

Owing to the unsatisfactory state revealed by this Question, I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation how the cost of the new runway at Prestwick compares with the cost of the new runway at Singapore.

The construction of a new runway at Prestwick has been deferred and no close estimate of the cost can be given.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary give any information about Singapore?

Any Question with regard to Singapore should be addressed to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

On a question of fact, if the Parliamentary Secretary says that no estimate of cost can be given, does he mean to say that this thing was contemplated and no estimate was made, and, if an estimate was made, why cannot it be given?

The actual site has not been arranged and, until the siting is determined, one cannot give a close estimate.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation how the cost of the administration of Civil Aviation and the losses of nationalised British airways during the last year for which figures are available compare with the average cost of Civil Aviation administration and Civil Aviation subsidies during the period 1929–39.

The subsidies and grants in the prewar period rose from £361,000 in 1929–30 to £1,339,000 in 1938–39. The total of the deficiency grant payable in respect of operations in 1946–47 amounted to about £10,320,000. Comparative figures of costs of administration of civil aviation are not available owing to the different scope of the field of Government responsibilities.

In view of that answer, would the Parliamentary Secretary kindly impress on his colleagues and on his constituency and mine that we cannot afford any more nationalisation for a very long time?

Can the Parliamentary Secretary give a comparison of the aircraft, air ports, air terminals and the general navigational equipment of today with what were in use in the period referred to in the Question?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation what his plans are to ensure that the nationalised air undertakings will become self-supporting in due course; and by what date he estimates that this position will be achieved.

My noble Friend's whole policy is directed to ensuring that the three Corporations shall become self-supporting as soon as possible subject only to the requirements of National policy.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary ask his noble Friend to do his best to see that civil aviation becomes self-supporting before Marshall Aid runs out?

Is the Parliamentary Secretary prepared to agree that the difficulties of making an air service self-supporting are almost insurmountable in view of the fact that no transport can be maintained without goods traffic, and that if the railways did not have goods traffic they would lose a much larger sum of money?

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation what sum has been spent in the purchase of U.S. aircraft for B.O.A.C.

£1,575,000 in Eire and 5,317,435 dollars in the United States of America.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation what proposals have been made to purchase Canadian aircraft for use on B.O.A.C. lines; and for what reasons.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Worcester (Mr. G. Ward) yesterday.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation how many regulations, orders and directions are in force amending the Air Navigation Directions, 1936 (A.N.D. 13); and why these instruments have not been consolidated by S.I. 1948, No. 1404, which makes further amendments.

The answer to the first part of the Question is 13. S.I. 1948, No. 1404 was required for specific purposes. A revised code of regulations to replace the 1936 directions is in course of preparation.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many alleged War Criminals handed over respectively to the Dutch, Belgian and French authorities remain in prison and are untried in those countries for more than three, two or one years, respectively; whether he will give instructions that no more such persons are to be handed over to any of those Governments until arrears have been wiped off; and whether he will instruct the Commander in Chief in Germany to exercise his right under Control Commission Laws and request the return of all such persons who have been held in detention untried for more than six months.

The figures asked for are not available and would take a very long time to obtain. The answer to the second part of the Question is in the negative. As regards the third part of the Question, while it is not clear that Article 5 of Control Council Law No. 10 has exactly the meaning which my hon. Friend puts on it, the Military Governor is already applying for the return in individual cases of persons who have been held in detention untried for more than six months.

Is my hon. Friend aware that hundreds, if not thousands, of people have been handed over for trial and nothing has been done about them? The Dutch authorities have declared that they are so busy trying their own Quislings that they cannot be bothered with foreigners. Is he also aware that under the Control Commission instructions, the Commander-in-Chief has power to demand the repatriation of these people to Germany, but has not done so, and thousands of them are languishing in gaol, untried, with no charge made against them?

I do not think that I can accept any of those four statements. On the last point, I have explained that the Military Governor is already applying for return in individual cases. The other points are covered in the answer, which, I think, shows our interest and anxiety.

Is my hon. Friend aware that instructions are being given that all people who have been asked for by foreign Governments are now to have warrants issued for their arrest, and as there are thousands in prison untried, what is the sense of putting more people into prison when those already there have not been tried? Surely that is nonsense?

The hon. Member is wildly wrong in his information.

I beg to give notice that I will raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest possible moment, with great authority.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether German patents are still protected outside Germany; and what notice has been taken of their value when assessing reparations from Germany to other countries.

German patent rights in existence abroad on 1st August, 1946, are German external assets to be liquidated in accordance with the terms of the Final Act of the Paris Conference on Reparation. The London Patents Accord of 27th July, 1946, to which 28 nations are party, placed the majority of these patents in the public domain or made them available for royalty-free licensing, subject to certain exceptions. German inventions made after 31st December, 1945, may be patented in the United Kingdom, United States and France and receive normal protection. Since value is not the criterion for assessing the German reparations debt to other countries, the second part of the Question does not arise.

But with great respect, the second part of the Question does arise. Is my hon. Friend not aware that there has been a general stealing of design patents, with no regard paid to the value to the people from whom they have been stolen, just as in the case of the Kalibri works, when tools were taken away and had to be returned because they had been stolen by competitors in this country; and is it not about time that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary paid attention to this matter, which is widespread and causing a great deal of distress?

No, Sir, the Kalibri works case has nothing whatsoever to do with this. This Question is about patents.

But it shows what is going on.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how much coal is to be flown to Berlin; and what is the estimated cost per ton.

Information as to the amount of coal to be flown to Berlin is not available. The cost of flying a ton of coal to Berlin would vary according to the type of aircraft used. If these were R.A.F. Dakotas, the cost per ton would be about £15.

Is the Minister satisfied that this is an economic proposition; and does he not think the overhead charges are rather high?

It is certainly expensive, and we should be very happy to send the coal by train.

Will the Minister assure us that he is not going to send building material in the same way?

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to the resolution of the Berlin municipal council calling for the holding of free, secret and direct elections for an all German Parliament; and whether he will approach the other three occupation Powers with a view to making preparations for such elections, to be held under joint Four-Power supervision in all four zones of Germany.

His Majesty's Government have frequently expressed their opinion that the holding of free elections, although by no means the only, or indeed the first step to be taken, is essential to the solution of the economic and political problem in Germany. His Majesty's Government have on several occasions during the last three years put forward detailed proposals for such a solution, but have failed to secure the necessary Four-Power agreement.

As the present plan for West German Government has not received the approval of the democratic political parties in Germany and has aroused serious misgiving in France, will the Under-Secretary ask his right hon. Friend to use a suitable opportunity to make a fresh attempt to secure agreement on elections for the whole of Germany?

I cannot agree with either of those suppositions; nor can I agree that this Question can be treated in isolation from other problems that are facing us.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs on what date official recognition was given by His Majesty's Government to the State of Transjordan; and whether any official recognition of this State has been accorded by U.N.O.

The date was 22nd March, 1946. As regards the second part of the Question, I am not clear what precisely my hon. Friend has in mind, or what action he is suggesting it would be open to the United Nations to take.

Would it not have been more in accord with correct procedure if His Majesty's Government had handed the Mandate for Transjordan back to the United Nations, as was done in the case of the Palestine Mandate, instead of exposing themselves to the allegation of setting up a puppet State in Transjordan, which has not, as yet, been recognised by any other Power?

That is another question.

Can my hon. Friend at least say whether what is suggested in that last supplementary question is true—that no other Power in the world except Great Britain has, in fact, recognised the State of Transjordan? Is that so?

That is so. Equally, only the veto of the Soviet Union has kept them out of the United Nations.

Is it not the case that Transjordan is in the Mandate as part of Palestine, and that it was quite illegal to hand it over to the Amir Abdullah as an independent State? Is that not the case? Is it not in the Mandate as part of Palestine?

No.

On a point of Order. I am rather reluctant to raise this point of Order, Mr. Speaker, but in view of the fact that within two minutes the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has given weak-kneed, wise-cracking answers which have had no relevance whatsoever to the questions asked, either by myself or by the hon. Member for Nelson and Colne (Mr. S. Silverman), could you direct the Under-Secretary to give either reasonable answers or no answers? Then we should know where we stand.

No, I will not direct the Under-Secretary. He gives the answers as he thinks best. It is not my affair. If the hon. Member is not satisfied he can give notice that he will raise the matter on the Adjournment.

Further to that point of Order. Was the Under-Secretary really in Order in using my supplementary question—which was purely a question of fact, and nothing else—in order to make a quite unjustified attack upon another Government?

It is entirely a matter for the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. It is nothing to do with me, and it is not a point of Order.

Further to that point of Order. In view of the answers of the Under-Secretary, are we to take it that where there are elections of Labour candidates with no opposition of any kind—just the one candidate—those elections are undesirable?

Hon. Members must have some idea of what is and what is not a point of Order. A point of Order is a point of procedure of this House, and not a point as to whether a Minister has answered satisfactorily or not.

May I ask you, Sir, as a matter of direction whether, after an hon. Member has risen on a supposed point of Order, which you then declare to be not a point of Order, it is not impermissible for another hon. Member to get up and refer to that previous point as a point of Order?

I quite agree. My trouble is that I am far too kind.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many military officers and other ranks, respectively, are now attached and seconded to the Government of Transjordan; and how many civil servants have been seconded or attached to the service of that Government.

Twenty-three British officers and 16 other ranks are seconded from the British Forces for service with the Government of Transjordan. None of them are in Palestine. Four British civilian officials were carried on the Palestine Government pensionable establishment and seconded to the service of the Transjordan Government. This arrangement ceased on the termination of the Mandate on 15th May, and those who are still serving with the Transjordan Government are not seconded from the Service of His Majesty's Government but are purely private individuals.

In view of the declaration of King Abdullah that he intends to fight on until the Jewish State is destroyed, will not the Under-Secretary recall these men to serve where they belong, namely, in this country?

Before my hon. Friend replies, may I ask whether in the event of deciding to take the action my hon. Friend suggests, he will also make representations to the American Government that they should withdraw their American help to the Jews.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether the terms of reference of the Commission appointed to inquire into conditions in the sugar industry in Trinidad and the Leeward Islands may be extended to include the sugar industry in British Guiana;

(2) how many sugar estates in British Guiana are still affected by the strike; how many workers are on strike; how many at work on these estates; what are the demands of the strikers; and what are the difficulties in the way of meeting them.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will make arrangements for the Commission appointed to inquire into the conditions in the sugar industry in Trinidad and the Leeward Islands to extend its inquiries to the sugar industry in British Guiana.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies (1) whether he has any statement to make about the incident at the Elmore Plantation, British Guiana, on 16th June, when armed police fired on sugar workers who were on strike, killing five and injuring 12;

(2) whether he will advise the Labour Department in British Guiana to bring about negotiations between the Sugar Producers' Association and the Guiana Industrial Workers Union for the settlement of the strike on seven sugar estates which has now lasted nine weeks, instead of confining the negotiations to unions recognised by the Producers' Association but not commanding the confidence of the workers;

(3) whether he is aware that, on 7th May, a motion was tabled in the Legislative Council of British Guiana drawing attention to the critical situation in the sugar industry and requesting the appointment of a committee to investigate the dispute in the industry and the working and living conditions on the sugar estates; that no action has been taken on that motion; and that the situation has been allowed to drift into a long strike; and whether he will secure that the Government of the Colony take steps to secure an end of the strikes by redressing the workers' grievances.

As the answer is long and detailed, I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

While I shall carefully scan the statement, will the Under-Secretary guarantee that something will be done immediately in order to ease the conditions of these workers instead of allowing the police to fire upon them and kill them as has been the case arising out of the recent strike? Will he see that everything possible is done to get proper conditions for these workers, because they could not be worse treated and more oppressed?

That is not a question.

Surely, in the case of a serious incident of this kind the Government ought to make a statement to the House which can be discussed? Surely the Under-Secretary ought to answer the Question now?

I am perfectly prepared to do so if the House so wishes, but I warn the House that it is a long statement. I could give it at the end of Questions.

Would it not be for the convenience of the House if the statement were made after Questions?

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what progress has been made in the rehabilitation of the rubber and tin industries of Malaya during the past two years; and to what extent delays in supplying the necessary equipment in this connection have been overcome.

Owing largely to the fine efforts of the planters and small-holders in Malaya, the physical recovery of the rubber industry from the effects of the war is now virtually complete. Production in 1947 was nearly 100,000 tons above the 1940 level.

Satisfactory progress has also been made with the rehabilitation of the tin industry, but in the nature of things the rehabilitation of an industry dependent on heavy engineering equipment must inevitably be rather slow. The physical damage suffered by the mines during the Japanese occupation was severe and the shortage of steel and the delay in the delivery of electrical machinery continue to hold up full recovery. I understand that all the hydraulic mines are working again; that there are now 65 dredges in operation as compared with 100 in use before the war; and that over 50 per cent. of the Chinese industry is working again mostly with gravel pump mines. If the present progress is maintained rehabilitation should be substantially completed by about the end of next year.

Leading on from there, is the Minister quite satisfied that the steel allocation for both these industries in Malaya is a perfectly fair one; and, secondly, does he appreciate that neither of these industries is able to rehabilitate itself completely out of its own resources?

In reply to the first part of the question, they will certainly have the highest possible priority with regard to steel. There is no question about that. In regard to the second part, with the present prices, particularly in tin, they should be able to rehabilitate themselves very largely out of their own resources.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, how many outrages have been committed in Malaya during May and June; and in how many instances have the perpetrators been brought to justice.

During May and June there were 52 murders and 27 attempted murders, as well as 11 cases of arson and 31 of robbery, assault or intimidation. Two hundred and twenty-one persons were arrested in connection with these crimes; seven others were shot dead by the police or military in the course of operations.

Could my hon. Friend say whether the position there is improving or getting worse, and what is the estimated number of terrorists responsible for these outrages?

I would say that the position is slightly better and that about 5,000 terrorists are involved.

Could the Minister give the House an assurance that adequate steps are being taken to safeguard the lives of British subjects out there?

Yes, I believe that to be the case. We have certainly given the authorities in Malaya all the support for which they have asked.

Will the Secretary of State be dealing fully with this matter in the Colonial Office Debate tomorrow, and will that not be the most convenient time to discuss this matter?

Yes, my right hon. Friend will be dealing with this to-morrow.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will send military reinforcements to Malaya to enable adequate protection to be provided against the lawless outbreaks that are taking place there.

The needs of the situation in Malaya are under constant review and my right hon. Friend is in close touch with the authorities in Malaya and the Service Ministers regarding the degree of military support which is called for in the present emergency.

Is my hon. Friend aware that the residents in Malaya do not accept the statement that the action taken by the authorities is adequate, that they consider that this is not a police matter, and that more military forces should be sent? Will the Minister be careful to see we avoid a repetition of what took place in Palestine?

This will be dealt with tomorrow.

asked the Minister of Defence how many Poles are serving in each of the three Services; and in what capacity.

At the end of June, 440 Poles were serving in the Royal Air Force, 385 in the Army and four in the Royal Navy, a total of 829. They are employed in various capacities according to their qualifications and the requirements of the Services. In addition, there were 320 members of the R.A.F. Section of the Polish Resettlement Corps on loan to the Royal Air Force, all of whom are to be withdrawn during July.

Are any of these men acting as officers to British troops?

They are being used as any ordinary members of British Forces may be used.

My question was quite specific and the Minister surely could answer it. Are any of these Poles being used as officers in charge of British troops?