asked the Minister of Food the landed prices for each quality of bacon which he has paid, or contracted to pay, for supplies imported from Europe during April, May and June of the year.

It would be contrary to normal practice to disclose the prices paid to individual overseas suppliers.

asked the Minister of Food if he will consider a revision of the conditions under which a hospital is not entitled to claim a subsidy for bread which they bake for their own use in consequence of which such hospitals have to bear a big additional cost within their existing estimates.

My right hon. and gallant Friend has considered this proposal, but does not think that such a widening of the field of bread subsidy payments would be justified.

asked the Minister of Food the tonnage of ware and seed potatoes, respectively, which remain unsold in pits in Scotland at the latest convenient date; and the tonnage of seed potatoes which has been sold for animal food.

It is estimated that fewer than 30,000 tons of ware and seed potatoes remain on farms in Scotland. No figures are available of the tonnage of seed potatoes sold for animal food.

asked the Minister of Food if he is aware that, owing to the shortage of supplies since the derationing of sweets, a number of confectioners in Lincoln have had to reduce the number of hours their shops are open; and what steps he is taking to alleviate this shortage.

From the inquiries I have made I have been unable to trace any case where a shortening of hours has occurred on these grounds.

asked the Minister of Food whether the National Federation of Meat Traders' Associations was consulted in regard to the new arrangements for the sale of derationed canned corned beef.

The detailed arrangements for the sale of this meat were discussed at a meeting with the retail meat trade at which the National Federation was represented.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in view of the fact that hon. Members may obtain Government publications which relate to domestic issues, free of charge from Her Majesty's Stationery Office, whether he will consider making arrangements for similar facilities covering colonial publications, issued through the Crown Agents.

I understand that this Question refers to reports and other documents published locally by colonial Governments. Such publications can already be consulted in the Colonial Office Library, and copies of a monthly list of new issues are placed in the Library of the House. The Colonial Office Library can sometimes lend copies to hon. Members for a short time, or obtain copies for them to keep.If there is a general feeling in the House that some further arrangement should be made, I shall be very ready to go into the matter, for I am, naturally, anxious that hon. Members should have every chance of informing themselves about colonial affairs.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what further consideration has been given to the need for extending higher education for students in North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei.

There are still not enough prospective students to justify local institutions for higher education. The financial provision for higher education overseas is being increased as need arises and full advantage is being taken of scholarships and fellowships available under the Colombo Plan and the Colonial Development and Welfare Scholarship Scheme.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what development has taken place in Barbados in respect of securing an adequate water supply and irrigation from the underground lake.

Since 1950 the underground water resources have been successively investigated under a Colonial Development and Welfare Scheme. These resources will be further developed under the present Five-Year Plan. I am sending the hon. Member a note on the details.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he has yet received a report or has further information in respect of the disturbances at Kano, Northern Nigeria, on 16th May.

Yes. I wish first to deny statements that special leave was granted to Native Administration staff on the day of the riots and that fighting was welcomed and, indeed, instigated by British officials in collaboration with certain Northern Nigerians. These allegations are wholly untrue.I want also to make it plain that there were no attacks on Action Group leaders and that no evidence has been forthcoming from any source that any such organised attacks were planned. But the Lieutenant Governor was aware of the tension caused by the visit of the Action Group leaders and on Friday, 15th May, all police in Kano were put on the alert.Further special police precautions, involving the posting of an additional 260 men in seven riot units, were taken on 16th May, when the Native Authority withdrew all permits issued for political meetings.As the first acts of hooliganism took place over a wide area the existing police strength was insufficient to restore order, and further substantial reinforcements were brought into Kano throughout the following day. All the major rioting took place after the police had been greatly strengthened. Had these reinforcements not been available damage and casualties would no doubt have been much greater. According to the latest reports casualties total 46 killed and 205 treated or admitted to hospital: damage to property was small.A rigorous administrative inquiry into the disturbances is already in progress, and in the light of its outcome the Nigerian Government will consider whether a formal inquiry should be instituted. Meanwhile, every opportunity has been and is being taken to impress the need for tolerance and calmness on all sections of the population.I am sure that the House will agree with me that nothing should be said which might re-create the tension which led to these deplorable incidents.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will withdraw the permission granted to Lord Reith to accept appointments and directorships outside his chairmanship of the Colonial Development Corporation, or replace him with a chairman entirely devoting his time, his energies and his name to the Colonial Development Corporation.

No. I would refer my hon. Friend to the reply which I gave to the right hon. Member for West Bromwich (Mr. Dugdale) on 10th June.

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will take steps to renew the appointment of Professor Arthur Lewis, one of the most valuable part-time members of the Colonial Development Corporation, which he allowed to lapse on 1st May this year.

No, but I should make it clear that my decision not to renew Professor Lewis' appointment in no way casts a reflection upon his past work for the Corporation.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty what arrangements are being made with regard to the pig swill contracts at the Royal Naval Air Station, Brawdy.

The current contract expires on 30th June and tenders have been obtained for the contract from 1st July. These tenders are all at the current maximum price and the new contract has been allotted to the present holder who has given satisfactory service.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he has considered the Report of the Committee on Cadet Entry into the Royal Navy; and whether he will make a statement.

In accordance with a suggestion made by the Committee, my right hon. Friend is arranging to hear the views of the educational interests of the country on certain of the recommendations contained in the Report. Until this has been done he will not be able to make a statement on the Report as a whole. In the meantime, consideration is proceeding within the Admiralty on a number of suggestions made by the Committee which are not connected with the new scheme of entry described in the Report.

asked the First Lord of the Admiralty to what extent the information previously in his possession about the details of casualties suffered in Korea by 41 (Independent) Commando, Royal Marines, has been confirmed by British prisoners recently repatriated; how many of these Marines are still prisoners; and how many have so far been released.

There has been no confirmation from recently repatriated prisoners of war of the numbers of casualties suffered in Korea by 41 (Independent) Commando, Royal Marines. Twenty-five are still prisoners and none was repatriated under the recent exchange of seriously sick and wounded prisoners.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General if he is aware of the congestion at Shettleston Post Office and sub-Post Office, Tollcross Post Office and Parkhead Post Office due to the small types of premises and to the long waiting periods of old-age pensioners and others who are compelled to wait outside in the cold and rain while awaiting attention; and if he will speed up the provision of new premises and especially a central office in the areas.

The space at some of the post offices in this part of Glasgow is admittedly inadequate. A new sub-post office in Baillieston Road will be opened shortly and I am considering what further steps can be taken to improve the position.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General if he will have printed in future telephone directories a statement informing private and other subscribers which directories will be sent to them regularly and which they are entitled to receive on request and the procedure required for this.

A notice on the lines suggested is being included in the new London directories which will be published next January under the plan described in my reply of 29th April to my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Sir E. Keeling). As other directories are not being changed, I do not think that a notice of this kind is necessary in their case.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General whether he is aware of the difficulty experienced in Cardiff by people trying to listen to the Third Programme of the British Broadcasting Corporation; how far the interference is caused by the Wenvoe television station; and whether he will make a statement.

I understand that satisfactory reception of the Third Programme can be obtained in Cardiff from the high power transmitter at Daventry on 464 metres.The Wenvoe television transmitter works in an entirely different waveband from the Daventry transmitter and does not interfere with the Third Programme transmissions. The Post Office generally receives few complaints about radio interference in Cardiff. I should be glad to have any particular cases the hon. Member has in mind investigated.

asked the Assistant Postmaster-General by what name Welsh television will be officially known in Wales.

As far as the Post Office is concerned I am afraid that, owing to my philological limitations, television in Wales must continue to be called television; but I understand that the B.B.C. has already held a competition in which 500 people sent in their suggestions for a Welsh word for television. These suggestions, which numbered nearly 1,000, were examined by three outside experts who, on 24th May, announced their decision that, in their opinion, the Welsh word for television is "teledu."

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he will give the total value of farming machinery imported into Northern Ireland for the last financial year.

Imports of agricultural machinery into Northern Ireland from all countries outside the United Kingdom during 1952 were valued at £29,900.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will reconsider the decision to allow unrestricted imports of early potatoes from Cyprus and Malta, in view of the considerable quantities received from these two sources while so many are being grown in Great Britain.

The seasonal prohibition on imports of foreign new potatoes is a temporary measure pending a decision on the application made by the National Farmers' Union for the revision of the import duty. But imports from the Commonwealth are free of duty and must also be free of these temporary quantitative restrictions.

asked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Defence whether he will publish in HANSARD the forms or letters circulated to serving officers of the Regular Forces in or about the years 1919 and 1920, which drew their attention to the then new pension rates and in which they were asked to make their election as to whether they would accept the new conditions.

When the new retired pay code was introduced in 1919 no individual communication was made to serving officers in the Regular Forces. The changes then introduced were published in the normal way by Service Orders (Admiralty Monthly Order 2483A dated 19th July, 1919, Army Order 324 of 1919, and Air Ministry Weekly Order 1003 of 1919).

asked the Prime Minister what steps he is taking to induce the United Nations to transfer responsibility for the conduct of the truce talks in Korea from military to civilian representatives of the nations taking part in those talks.

None.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated loss to private traders on goods they already hold, as a result of the reduction in Purchase Tax.

There are several hundred thousand traders concerned, and any estimate of the loss must involve a number of assumptions. Assuming normal stocks and that retail prices were reduced by the full amount of the tax reduction immediately, the total gross loss would have been of the order of £13 million.Traders, however, were free to continue selling their stocks at pre-Budget prices and it is not known how much prices were, in fact, reduced at once; it is likely that the actual loss amounted to an appreciably lower figure. This estimate does not take into account the extent to which these trading losses would affect the traders's liability to direct taxation, nor the benefit to trade resulting from the tax reduction.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will grant reliefs to the provincial taxi-cab industry similar to those granted to London taxis recently.

The reliefs in respect of the London-type taxi are available to provincial purchasers of that type of cab. The reliefs could not be extended to other vehicles used as taxi-cabs, which are of the same types as are used for other purposes. As the Runciman Committee on the Taxi-cab Service pointed out, the cost of these other vehicles is not affected by the factors governing the price of the London-type taxi.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has appointed the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency.

Yes. I have appointed the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency in accordance with the provisions of the Iron and Steel Act, 1953. The Act prescribes that in addition to the Chairman the Agency shall be composed of not less than three nor more than six members. For the moment I have appointed five members in addition to the Chairman.Sir John Morison, a member of the firm of Thomson McLintock and Co., has agreed to become Chairman of the Agency at a salary of £6,000. He is surrendering those of his directorships which could conflict with his duties as Chairman of the Agency.Sir John Green, now Chairman of the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain, has agreed to serve as a member of the Agency at a salary of £3,500 and will take up his appointment with the Agency when the Corporation is dissolved. He will devote the greater part of his time to the business of the Agency.The following gentlemen have agreed to serve as members of the Agency at a salary of £1,000: