asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she discussed the question of further help in the agricultural field when she visited India recently; and what action will follow such discussions.

Yes, Sir, I discussed in some detail with the Indian authorities the ways in which our technical assistance and capital aid might be most usefully employed to help in the development of Indian agriculture. I was told of the plans being made by the Indian Government to increase agricul- tural production and explained that we were anxious to integrate our own forward planning of assistance to fit in with their plans. We are now following up these discussions so as to lead to agreement on specific assistance projects.

When discussing these matters overseas, will the right hon. Lady bear in mind that the form of aid which we want to be given to these people is aid which will enable them to help themselves more, since the time may well come when we shall not be able to afford the amount of money which we are now giving to overseas aid?

Yes, Sir. That is the purpose of all our aid.

Will the right hon. Lady bear in mind the important work which various missionary societies are doing in this respect, particularly their agricultural work, and can she say whether there is any co-operation between her Ministry and these missionary societies?

The aid which we give is on a Government-to-Government basis and we therefore merely meet requests put to us by the Indian Government. The responsibility for integrating all the work in the aid programme at the receiving end is with the Indian Government.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will make a statement of the net effect of Government aid on the balance of payments situation; and what studies she has instituted as to which forms of aid are least onerous in this respect.

I am urgently studying this question with the Department of Economic Affairs, the Treasury, the Board of Trade and other interested Departments. The investigation is not yet complete but it is clear that the net effects are different for different forms of aid.

Can the right hon. Lady give us any idea when this review will reach finality? Secondly, is she aware of the dismay caused in the developing countries by the Chancellor's restrictions, for balance of payments reasons, on private investment? May we have an assurance that the same balance of payments reasons will not be extended to cut down Government aid to developing nations?

We are pressing ahead with the review as quickly as possible and in any case I hope to be able to report to the House, in the White Paper which I shall introduce before the Summer Recess. The answer to the last question is that we certainly have no intention of cutting aid.

Against the background of the Budget and the balance of payments problems, will the Minister bear in mind that commercial investment is often as valuable as, and sometimes more valuable than, direct Government aid?

I am certainly aware of the râle which commercial investment plays in development, but, obviously, in considering all these forms of development we have to have regard to our own balance of payments problem.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that in his Budget statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated very clearly that those who invested money overseas would have to assess more accurately in future the advantage which they would get from overseas investment as compared with the advantage which they would get from investment at home? Is this guidance to be applied only to private or company investment, or is it to be applied also to the Government and, if so, at what stage?

The criterion for assessing Government aid is its effectiveness in achieving the ends which we are seeking, namely, the development of the countries concerned to the utmost extent which our resources will allow.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development following her recent visit to India and Pakistan, what proposals she has regarding the British aid programme to these countries.

During my visit to India I discussed with the Planning Commission and with Ministers the integration of the future planning of our technical and capital assistance with the Indian Government's own forward planning so as to ensure the most effective British contribution to India's development needs. These discussions will be of great value when we consider specific future requirements with the Indian authorities.

Is it not time that the Minister began making up her mind as a result of her visit to India and Pakistan about exactly what she proposes to do? Is she aware that our capital assistance to Pakistan, for example, is £8½ million per annum, while our technical assistance is only £½ million? What are the criteria for this difference? Would she also make clear whether she is considering any change in the distribution between the two forms of assistance?

I would first correct the hon. Gentleman. Our technical assistance to India is currently running at over £¾ million. Action has already been taken, particularly in the technical assistance field, to meet the specific requirements which the Indian Government expressed to me during my visit. With regard to capital aid, our pledge for 1965–66 will be made at a meeting of the Aid India consortium later this month.

Can my right hon. Friend say what proposals she has in mind to ensure that Belfast, North makes an adequate contribution to these proposals?

We must regularise even Northern Ireland, in the circumstances, to bring it within the reply.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that India and Pakistan are two of the countries in which aid by private investment will be most severely hit by the recent proposals of the Chancellor of the Exchequer? What will she do about this?

There is a later Question on private investment.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what proposals she has for continued financial support for resettlement schemes on small European mixed farms in Kenya.

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply of 30th March to which I have nothing to add at present.

I thank the right hon. Lady for her reply last week. May I ask her to bear in mind the special claim of the agricultural settlement trust farmers, for whom I believe all Governments have a special moral responsibility, particularly in view of the fact that it seems likely that trust lands may be excluded from any future resettlement scheme?

I will bear that in mind when I have the report in front of me.

Does the right hon. Lady realise the great importance of making a firm statement as soon as possible to remove the tremendous uncertainty and anxiety which exists among British farmers in Kenya?

I appreciate that. As I said in my reply of 6th April, the Mission's full report is not likely to be ready until June. There is a mass of detailed material which it is essential it should have time to assimilate and evaluate. However, it hopes to let me have an interim report by the end of April or May.

Does that mean that the Minister hopes to be able to act on the interim report, or shall we have to wait until July or August until any policy decision is taken?

I should like to wait to see the interim report, but clearly once I have a report, whether it be an interim report or the final report, I shall have to enter into discussions with the Kenya Government on the basis of the report.

The interim report?

As I say, I have no idea what the scope of the interim report will be. But I do not think that I can hold out any hope to the House that I shall be able to announce specific action until later in the year.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development how much financial help has been given to assist compassionate cases in Kenya for the six months prior to October, 1964, and the six months after, respectively; how many cases remain to be dealt with; and what assistance she proposes to make available.

A sum of £661,000 was provided to the Kenya Government in March, 1964, for the purchase of farms belonging to compassionate cases in the period from July, 1963, to June, 1964. As I informed the hon. Gentleman on 27th November, 1964, we have agreed to provide additional funds and the British High Commission in Nairobi is currently studying each individual case on its merits, and has already sent me progress reports in some detail. I am not yet able to say how many further cases will qualify for assistance and what sum will be involved, but the question is being pursued as a matter of urgency.

Is the Minister aware that the last Government gave over £1 million for these purposes? How much does the right hon. Lady expect to be able to make available? Will she appreciate that these people are ageing, that they include a number of war-wounded and that they have no hope of selling their farms unless the British Government are able to provide financial help?

I am aware of the difficulties of these cases, but, as I said at the time, we are prepared to make an appropriate sum available. Clearly, its size must depend upon the examination of individual applications by our authorities.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what plans Her Majesty's Government propose to present to the United Nations aimed at channelling food surpluses to the deficit areas of the world.

I have nothing to add at present to the reply my right hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Derbyshire, West (Mr. Crawley) on 15th December last.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the first Secretary of State said before the election that the Labour Party would make a large number of specific proposals to the United Nations immediately it came to power? Can he give us any idea what the specific proposals are?

We propose to await the outcome of the meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee, which is being held in Rome at the moment. I think that it would be better for the hon. Gentleman to await the results of that examination.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what steps are being taken by her Department to publicise voluntary service overseas amongst young people at universities and colleges of further education.

A pictorial booklet for circulation in industry and among educational bodies will be ready for distribution in May. A film about volunteers is in an advanced stage of production and should be ready for loan by September.

Would the hon. Gentleman think of extending this publicity for the voluntary youth organisations?

We are anxious to spread this publicity in as wide a fashion as possible. I will certainly take the hon. and learned Gentleman's suggestion into account.

Is my hon. Friend aware that there is a potential field—quite a large field, in my opinion—of young teachers who wish to make exchange visits with their opposite numbers overseas, perhaps in Africa, which would be an excellent thing? Can my hon. Friend tell us what help he is prepared to give in this respect?

I think that my hon. Friend will realise that a large number of the volunteers who go overseas are already engaged in teaching. We welcome this. Any additional help which we can get will also be welcome.

Can the hon. Gentleman say what progress is being made with the plans which were set afoot about a year ago for the production of a film on young volunteers to be shown commercially and also for use by British information services overseas?

I am not sure whether the film which the right hon. Gentleman has in mind is the same——

indicated dissent.

Apparently it is not. Perhaps the right hon. Gentleman would give me notice of that question.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development how many industrial apprentices are included in the volunteers currently serving overseas; and how many she anticipates will be included in the 1,600 volunteers who are expected to be serving overseas in the year beginning September, 1965.

Forty-three at present. I hope 75 this autumn.

I hope that the hon. Member is not satisfied with this number. I hope that he will have talks with his hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Labour to see if it can be increased.

I can assure the hon. Member that I am not satisfied. I am most anxious that this side of the recruitment of volunteers should be considerably enhanced. In the discussions over the weekend that I referred to in reply to an earlier Question I emphasised the importance of this field of recruitment.

Is my hon. Friend aware that those who have taught in technical colleges were certainly unaware of this service until last October?

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what additional steps she is taking to increase the number of teachers of English working overseas, and to train such teachers in the use of the most modern techniques, including machines, for language teaching.

Under the Aid for Commonwealth English Scheme 30 experts in the teaching of English will be in post by this autumn. A further number will then be starting training so as to increase the total to 60 by 1970. They are trained in the use of the most modern techniques. The cost of these arrangements is met from my Ministry's vote but the experts are on the staff of the British Council.

Excellent though these arrangements are, would my hon. Friend agree that 60 teachers by 1970 is a drop in the ocean compared with the tremendous demand all over the world to learn English? Will he look as a matter of urgency at ways of increasing enormously the effort being put into English teaching all over the world?

I share my hon. Friend's concern in this matter. I should not like him to think that the 30 and 60 people to whom I have referred are the only teachers available for teaching English. These are the experts, the specialists. But there are many others who are occupied in teaching English.

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that as more and more people learn English all over the world, fewer and fewer of them can understand each other? Would he put more emphasis on the teaching of correct pronunciation and less on the teaching of Shakespeare and Chaucer?

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what plans she has for further assistance to the Government of India in the field of English language instruction; and to what extent these have been affected by the recent linguistic disturbances in India.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she will give additional assistance to the programme of instruction in English language teaching for India.

Assistance to the Government of India is given in this field, as in others, at the request of the Indian Government. Through the British Council we are successfully meeting the substan- tial requests which have been made for our help.

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind in his discussions with the Indian Ministry of Education concerning the supply of English teachers to India that there is greater need in the smaller universities away from the big centres than in universities like Delhi, which already have a good standard of knowledge of English?

I thank my hon. Friend for calling attention to that point, which I regard as important.

Does the Parliamentary Secretary recognise that even if the number of trained linguistic teachers in India is doubled within the next few years, there will still be less than one for every 15 million of the population and that the best chance of maintaining English is to bring television into use as quickly as possible?

We recognise, of course, that this is a drop in a vast ocean. There is a later Question on the Order Paper concerning the support that we are giving for television for teaching overseas. I think that, in a small part at least, the point that the hon. Member has in mind will be met.

The later Question refers to what we are doing through an organisation in this country. Can the Minister say whether we are ready to give the Indian Government any help in establishing their own television services, which might help in this direction?

The Centre for Television, to which we are making a grant, is in touch with overseas Governments. Certainly, its services are available to the Indian Government and other overseas Governments.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether she will take steps to provide Government encouragement and financial help for the International Voluntary Service and the United Nations Association International Service.

Both these bodies are associated with the graduate volunteer scheme and Her Majesty's Government contribute 75 per cent. of the British costs of the volunteers they send overseas.

The graduate volunteer scheme is limited in scope when related to the kind of activities which these organisations undertake. Is my hon. Friend aware that these two bodies undertake the sending overseas of many more people than graduates, as well as the reception of people in this country from overseas? Will the Minister consider consulting these two bodies, which are in serious financial need, and encourage the expansion of their work internationally overseas and at home?

We are constantly in touch with these and other organisations engaged in sending volunteers overseas. We are fully aware, as my hon. Friend has pointed out, that their valuable work extends beyond the recruitment of graduates. At the moment, however, we have no plans for extending the scheme of Government support beyond the recruitment of graduates.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will consider seeking to promote a university and college scholarship programme for Southern Rhodesian students throughout the Commonwealth, in order to help the African populace towards the experience necessary to take over the government of the country.

Facilities already exist in such schemes as the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan which, as its name implies, provides scholarships at Commonwealth universities for Commonwealth students. Training opportunities in this country are also available under British Technical Assistance. Rhodesians also have their own university college in Salisbury to which Her Majesty's Government have given, and are pledged to give, very generous support.

In thanking my hon. Friend for his reply, may I ask him to bear in mind that there are many hon. Members, on both sides of the House, who are not prepared to see the young people of Southern Rhodesia kept back and retarded in their knowledge and education? Does not my hon. Friend consider this to be a subject which might be raised at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference for an accelerated education programme?

It is not for me to say what the agenda of the Prime Ministers' Conference should be, but I certainly share my hon. Friend's concern that all possibilities of educational advance should be extended to Rhodesia.

Does the Minister agree that in Rhodesia there are more Africans at school as a percentage of the population than in any other independent State in Africa?

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will introduce legislation to amend the Pensions (Increase) Act, 1962, to provide that a pension supplement is payable to a former officer of Her Majesty's Overseas Service, who was born, or was resident at the time of his joining the Service, in an overseas territory, but ceases to be so resident upon his retirement.

No, Sir.

I know that the Parliamentary Secretary has considered this matter carefully, but is he aware of any other legislation in which entitlement to a pension increase depends upon the accident of where one is born or where one happened to be at the time of entering the service? Will the hon. Gentleman give an assurance that in considering any future Pensions (increase) Bill, he will try to overcome the difficulty involved in this case, because there is clearly an injustice in the legislation?

I have been in correspondence with the hon. Member and I know of the case that he has in mind. The Act which increases the pensions draws a distinction, however, between overseas and local officers, and the case that the hon. Member has in mind is distinctly one of a local officer. I see no prospect that we can answer the hon. Member's case that the legislation should be amended.

Does the Minister's reply mean that no Acts will be altered by Her Majesty's Government? In view of all the pledges which they have given all round the place that they will deal with a good many people so much more generously than did the Tory Government, does the Minister intend to alter no Act, however wide the gap may be?

The Minister could not do it arising out of the Answer, which was confined to a particular point.

On a point of order. Is it not in order, Mr. Speaker, to ask the Minister whether he will not alter an Act?

Yes, very much so if the question arises out of the Answer. The difficulty here was that the hon. Lady's question went floating round a wider range.

Jolly good.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development how many overseas service pensioners in the United Kingdom fail to qualify for relief under the Double Taxation Agreement in respect of tax deducted from their pensions by the Government of Ghana.

I regret that this information is not available but I understand that the great majority of Ghana pensioners in this country pay Ghana tax at the effective United Kingdom rate and thus qualify for full relief in respect of tax paid to Ghana.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what is the average period which elapses between the death of a colonial service pensioner who served in Ceylon and the payment of a pension to his widow.

Delays have averaged five to six months but the Ceylon Government have now authorised the Crown Agents, as soon as a contributor's death is notified, to pay the widow a provisional pension of three-quarters of the registered pension pending a final calculation.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that reply. I am sure that it will please all ex-colonial civil servants, but does not the hon. Gentleman agree that, as we constantly have these problems of one sort or another, it would be far better if Her Majesty's Government assumed responsibility for paying these pensions and reclaiming them from the Governments concerned?

This matter was quite recently discussed during an Adjournment debate in the House, in which I stated the Government's position. We have discussed it with the Association of the officers concerned, and I am afraid that we cannot accept the hon. Gentleman's suggestion.

A bad decision.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development why an ex-colonial civil servant who served in the territory formerly known as Nyasaland, is eligible for a supplement under the Pensions (Increase) Act if he retired to Tanganyika but is not eligible if he retired to Nyasaland.

With one exception the Act does not provide for the payment of supplements to pensioners who live after retirement in the country in which they served since local pensioners are not within its scope.

Does not the hon. Gentleman think that this is extremely unfair? All these colonial servants served under the same conditions of service, and they are all British subjects. Should not they all be treated in the same way? The hon. Gentleman says that the Government cannot take over these pensions, and that he has discussed this matter with the Overseas Pensioners' Association, but he did not say that that association wishes the Government to take them over.

I thought that that was well known, as the House has discussed this matter on several occasions. The distinction is between the country where the officer served, and other countries. Although it meant creating some anomalies by drawing the line where it was drawn—and I remind the hon. Gentleman that it was drawn there by the previous Government—

Alter it.

—it is not possible to draw the line at any other point without raising much worse anomalies than those which appear to exist under this system.

In view of the deep disquiet felt on both sides of the House about the fairness of some of these arrangements, will the hon. Gentleman institute a thoroughgoing review of the whole system of the payment of these ex-colonial pensions to see whether he can improve on the standards that were laid down in the last Act?

I assure the hon. Gentleman that in relation to many individual cases, and in relation to the whole question of pensions for overseas officers, the matter has been thoroughly considered by the Government, and we believe that no change is appropriate.

Henceforth, will my hon. Friend act on what might be a wiser assumption, that anything decided by the previous Government was harsh, senseless and utterly outrageous?

asked the Minister of Overseas Development whether Her Majesty's Government will now give full support, financial and otherwise, to international programmes for the education of the peoples of the developing countries in the techniques of family planning.

We are ready to give sympathetic consideration to initiatives that have the agreement of the Governments of these countries and appear likely to be effective.

In thanking the right hon. Lady for that reply, may I ask her to recognise that many people have been disappointed with the amount of support and encouragement given by this country to international programmes for family planning? Could she not undertake to give more wholehearted and enthusiastic support for these programmes, which many people recognise as lying right at the root of solving the problem of poverty in under-developed countries?

I have made clear on more than one occasion the great importance which I extend to this section of the whole planning problem in developing countries. We stand, however, as did the previous Government, on the thesis that the request must come from the countries concerned. The initiative must come from them. If it does come, and from wherever it may come, we will give it our full support, whether through bilateral technical assistance or through international programmes of various kinds.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will take steps on a Government-to-Government basis which will assist cocoa producers in Ghana and elsewhere affected by the slump in commodity prices.

Although I feel great sympathy with the cocoa producers, I have, so far as my own responsibilities are concerned, no proposals to make at present.

I thank the right hon. Lady for the sympathy that she has expressed, but may I suggest a proposal which she might consider under the circumstances, namely, the abolition of the 15 per cent. Purchase Tax on chocolates? Is she aware that the import of cocoa beans has been falling steadily, and that it is quite indefensible to finance our Budget deficit at the expense of Ghana?

That is not a question for me, but for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Has the right hon. Lady had any discussions with any of her colleagues about instituting a plan in consultation with other countries, to have an international commodity agreement on cocoa?

That is a matter for other Ministers, who are currently considering it.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that these matters are currently being considered in New York by the United Nations Trade and Development Board and by a council which was set up under that Board? Will she assure us that its efforts to stabilise commodity prices will have the full support of the Government?

I must repeat that that is a matter for other Ministers.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what steps she has taken to co-ordinate British aid with other donor countries through the Development Assistance Committee.

We continue to play a major rôle in the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development with representatives of other donor countries who are members of the Committee to improve the co-ordination and effectiveness of donors' aid policies.

Since this is clearly within the purview of the right hon. Lady's Department, will she undertake, within the D.A.C., to initiate fiscal reforms inside member countries to facilitate and encourage a greater increase in the volume of cocoa bean imports to the 12 countries concerned?

I would have to give a little thought to whether that was appropriate to the current activities of the D.A.C.

Is the right hon. Lady, within the D.A.C., giving full support to the investigation of schemes of multilateral insurance for capital investment, because that might do something to offset the Chancellor's recent measures to discourage it?

The O.E.C.D. has drawn up a draft Convention which has been submitted to the World Bank for its comments, and it has not yet been finalised.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what arrangements she is making to send a senior welfare officer to the Bahamas to help with the planning and organisation of a department of welfare for the islands.

An experienced officer has been found for the post of Adviser on Social Development, Bahamas, and is expected to take up his appointment later this month.

May I ask the hon. Gentleman how long this appointment is going to last, and whether it will be part of this officer's duty to train local personnel for work in this service? For some time there has been a Minister of Welfare without an office, or a secretary to help him, and I think that the Department should be set up properly.

I am afraid that, without notice, I am unable to say how long this appointment will last, but I am fully confident that the functions which the hon. Lady has in mind will be fulfilled by this officer.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what is the target number for overseas volunteers for the year beginning September, 1966; and what financial assistance she proposes to offer the voluntary organisations concerned in respect of that year.

No decision has yet been taken. But we are actively considering the question in consultation with the voluntary societies.

Is not the hon. Gentleman aware that last year these targets and financial arrangements were fixed as early as February, thus giving voluntary organisations 18 months in which to plan a very big expansion? Is not the hon. Gentleman aware that they were very much of the opinion then that any major expansion, which we all hoped would take place, must be planned a long time in advance?

I agree that the announcement was made earlier last year, but we are in consultation with the voluntary bodies. Indeed, my officials and I spent last weekend discussing these matters with them. They are less anxious about the size than about the problems connected with the quality of the programme, the projects to be met, and so on, and it is along these lines that we are discussing the matter. They have expressed no anxiety about any undue haste in setting the targets.

Does this mean that the arrangements for finding suitable projects and volunteers of sufficient quality are such that we cannot look forward to continued expansion on the previous scale?

We are expecting to expand, but we also plan to put emphasis on quality as well as quantity.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what was the estimated amount of aid provided to Aden and the Federation of South Arabia in 1964–65; how much this represents on a per capita basis of the population of the territories concerned; and whether she anticipates making any significant change in the amount of aid to this area in the current year.

During 1964–65 schemes under the Colonial Development and Welfare Act were approved for the Federation of South Arabia to a total of £2,578,000, which represents about £3 10s. per head of the estimated population. Cash issues during the year, which relate both to these and to schemes previously approved, together with assistance in other forms, excluding budgetary and military aid, amounted to £1,153,618, or about £1 10s. per head.

I welcome the large amount of aid which the right hon. Lady has mentioned in connection with these territories, but can she tell the House by what criterion she allocates what is a very high amount of aid compared with that which is given to many other developing countries where the needs for and the prospects of the effective use of aid are just as great? Why is it so much bigger in this area?

I am rather surprised at the attitude which the right hon. Member is taking. I thought that it would have been agreed by hon. Members on both sides of the House that a backlog of development work needs to be done in this part of the world. I am only sorry that in the past the issues have not proceeded more speedily against allocations. It will be my aim to speed up the allocations.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what was the cost of technical assistance in 1964–65 made available to developing countries in the form of professional consultancy services; and whether she will increase this amount in the coming year.

Full details of expenditure in 1964–65 are not yet available. In the calendar year 1964 expenditure on professional consultancy services provided for developing countries was £179,000.

I thank the hon. Lady for her reply. Would she agree that this service is particularly valuable in that it helps these countries to help themselves if this professional advice is given? Will she do her best to extend it?

This point was raised particularly with me during my recent visit to Pakistan and India, and I expressed a willingness to consider requests in this field.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development what progress has been made in defining and providing assistance for the special Commonwealth projects envisaged at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference held in the summer of 1964.

Senior Commonwealth officials have recently considered means of implementing this proposal, and their recommendations are now being considered by Commonwealth Governments. We hope that the proposed Commonwealth Secretariat will be able to play a part in furthering the scheme.

As this is meant to be an exercise in increasing Commonwealth co-operation as well as in giving assistance, will the right hon. Lady do her best to keep it going and to speed it up?

Yes. In particular, my Department is very glad that it has been suggested that the Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat should have special responsibility for economic problems. When he has been appointed my Department will keep in close touch with him in order to promote Commonwealth co-operation in this matter.

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if she will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT, the total values of grants and loans made to under-developed and developed countries respectively, for the years 1959 to 1964; what was the total value of outstanding loans to the under-developed countries and the more developed countries on 31st December, 1964; what has been the total amount of interest remitted to this country and the rate of interest on outstanding loans in each of the last six years; if she is satisfied with the current position; and what proposals she has for changes.

The hon. Member will understand that my Departmental responsibility is limited to economic aid to developing countries. I am circulating in the OFFICIAL REPORT details of aid grants and loans since 1959, and the amounts of these loans outstanding on 31st December, 1964. Some loans to developing countries are interest-free; others are based on the rate at which the Exchequer itself has borrowed for comparable periods, but not infrequently with interest waivers and grace periods as well as capital repayment for the initial years of the loan. The rates of interest have varied, therefore, between nil and 7 per cent.

I thank the right hon. Lady for that detailed reply, but may I ask if she is aware that the First Secretary of State has written to private industry asking it to look at the return on its investment overseas? How does she expect this to affect her judgment on rates of interest on loans and grants overseas?

The terms of Government aid are a quite separate issue from that of private investment.

Is the right hon. Lady aware that the Budget of her right hon. Friend militates against private enterprise investment in many developing countries?

I cannot accept that assumption. It has not been established on the lines that the hon. Member has suggested, and my right hon. Friend has told the House that he will watch this matter.

Can my right hon. Friend say when she expects to make an announcement about rates of interest on Government loans to developing countries? Is she aware that we have been very patient in this matter, fully understanding her difficulties, but that it is now time that Her Majesty's Government's policy in this matter was stated in a clear form?

I shall certainly make the announcement at the earliest possible moment.

How can the right hon. Lady say that the Budget will not have an effect on aid by private investment when it is the avowed intention of her right hon. Friend to reduce capital outflow by £100 million a year?

Because one of the byproducts of this tax might be that firms overseas will plough back more of their profits in the developing countries themselves.

asked the Prime Minister if Her Majesty's Government are still committed to the tripartite agreement.

The Tripartite Declaration of 1950 was intended to express the policy of Britain, France and the United States at that time. It has not been retracted. I expressed the Government's deep concern for the peace and stability of the Middle East when, in the course of the Foreign Affairs debate on 16th December, 1964, I endorsed Mr. Macmillan's statement of 14th May, 1963.

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his reply and at the same time congratulate him on the fact that his illness was not of the type to necessitate his having a rest. Does his reply mean that England and France still stand by all the intentions of the tripartite agreement?

However hard the hon. Member tries he will not manage to attack those who sit on this Front Bench with the vehemence he used in attacking those who preceded us. The noble Lord will realise that at the time of the 1950 Declaration there was a very different situation, in that the three Powers virtually controlled such arms movements as there were. There is now a big difference in the situation, but we feel that the statement made in 1963 is the right one for us to follow, and I give the assurance for which the noble Lord asked.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that there are differences of interpretation in respect of the tripartite agreement? In the book which I understand my right hon. Friend is now reading on the Suez crisis—or what was alleged to be a crisis—he will find that President Eisenhower and the late Mr. Dulles gave a quite different interpretation from that given by Mr. Harold Macmillan or the United Kingdom Government. Will he take an early opportunity of defining the meaning of the agreement?

I went to some lengths on this matter in the debate a fortnight ago on the Middle Eastern question. Certainly in all our contacts with Middle Eastern countries we have been emphasising—particularly in what is the most vital issue at the moment; the question of the water scheme—the need for maximum restraint by all the countries concerned.

Is the Prime Minister aware that it is just because the situation is so different now from what it was when the agreement was brought up that we feel that it should be renegotiated? Am I right in thinking that the agreement is an agreement to maintain the frontiers of Israel, and that if it were invoked we might be forced to go to the aid of one side or the other to put back a frontier, quite irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the initial controversy which had led to the violation of that frontier?

The original Declaration, as the right hon. Gentleman knows, was signed at a time when the signatories could regard themselves as virtually the arbiters of Middle East policy. This is no longer the position today, partly because of the intervention of the Soviet Union and other countries, partly because of certain aspects of Israeli and Arab nationalism going far beyond national frontiers in the area. We regard our interest in it now as going far beyond the maintenance of particular frontiers, as the right hon. Gentleman has suggested, and certainly if the circumstances became appropriate, I am sure that there is nothing that the House would like better than to get some kind of agreement on arms supplies, arms control and the banning of nuclear weapons in that area.

asked the Prime Minister what are the current instructions to Ministers regarding the writing of letters to newspapers on subjects within their responsibilities.

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the Answer I gave to Questions by my hon. Friends the Members for Birmingham, Ladywood (Mr. Victor Yates) and Glasgow, Pollok (Mr. Garrow) on 9th March.

Would the right hon. Gentleman say if his attention has been drawn to the First Secretary's letter to The Times, when he was stung into replying to criticism of his policy in that newspaper? Would the right hon. Gentleman call on his marvellous memory—or possibly on notes prepared in his office—and give us a list of the occasions in previous Administrations on which Ministers have written to the Press about their own responsibilities when in office?

I am sorry that I have not got notes on the letter in question, but if it is the one of 22nd December to which the hon. and learned Gentleman is referring, I do happen to recall it. It was not that my right hon. Friend was stung into replying to any question about policy, it was in fact an attack on his integrity to which he replied. It has always been the policy for Ministers to have the right to do that. If the hon. and learned Gentleman wishes me to tax my memory further, I can remember some very powerful articles, and interviews, as well as letters, written on policy matters by right hon. Gentlemen opposite—a number, if I remember rightly, in the News of the World, though I think that the Daily Mail got a share of them as well.

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Minister of Education—

Order. Mrs. Kerr.

asked the Prime Minister if he will request all Ministers to ask their Departments to provide them with an analysis of all correspondence on subjects within their responsibilities.

It is for Ministers themselves to give whatever instructions they think necessary to ensure that they are informed of matters within their responsibility.

Does my right hon. Friend feel that this method of democratic channelling is being fully utilised by his Ministers at this time? Will he ask them to see correspondence relating to problems, which are coming in in large numbers, particularly on the question of Vietnam and the needs of very elderly people who are not receiving pensions?

I do not think it is necessary for me to draw the attention of Ministers to the need to have an analysis made of correspondence. Where the correspondence is light, the Minister is able to read every letter. In any case it would, I think, be automatic that there would be summaries of this kind. Certainly I get a summary in my own Department. I can assure my hon. Friend that the priorities in my correspondence—which ought to be a pretty fair guide—do not quite follow the priorities she has laid down.

If all of the right hon. Gentleman's correspondence were produced, would not it prove to be a red-letter day?

I think it a very good thing that the House is shortly to have a holiday so that we may have time to appreciate all the more the inner witticism of the hon. and gallant Gentleman's remark. I should say that I miss from my correspondence any regular letters from the hon. and gallant Gentleman. I know that he is one of the more literate of the hon. Members of this House and I should like to hear from him more often.

asked the Prime Minister what steps he is taking within the machinery of Government to increase the bridge-building between the European Free Trade Association and the Common Market.

I would refer the hon. Gentleman to Answers I gave to Questions on this subject on 25th February and 6th April.

While we would all agree that aviation is a very desirable form of co-operation, would not the Minister agree that so much has been said about aviation co-operation in these days almost to the exclusion of other matters? Would he consider setting up a council, on the lines of the Export Council, consisting of businessmen, industrialists and Government representatives, to keep under permanent review such opportunities for bridge-building between the Six and the Seven as we may have?

As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, there is an export council for Europe which is functioning together with the export councils in that area, and they are doing very valuable work. I hope that in the past few weeks we have shown that any opportunities for bridge-building of this kind have been seized upon. As I said in the Answers to which I referred when answering the Question today, it will be a matter for us to discuss with our E.F.T.A. partners what can be done to build bridges between the two trade groups, quite apart from bilateral bridges.

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that many of us on this side of the House consider that the most important bridge to be built is between this country and the British Commonwealth?

Yes, Sir. This is a matter which I have often emphasised from both that side of the House and from this side. We are hard at work to see what can be done to stop the rot and decline in trade between Britain and the Commonwealth.

Since the Prime Minister seems so anxious to use the happy cliché of bridge-building, will he say what steps he is going to take to repair some of the boats he burned as between E.F.T.A. and ourselves on account of his import surcharge?

The cliché in question was taken from the Order Paper. I thought it only courteous to use it. It is in any case a very useful one. If the noble Lord wishes us to refer to the digging of tunnels, I have used that particular cliché myself in Paris, but hon. Members, noble Lords and right hon. Members really cannot go on for ever living on the memories of the difficulties of the first few weeks after we took office, with what they left us.

asked the Prime Minister whether he will initiate legislation to curb the delaying powers of the House of Lords in respect of legislation.

The need for such legislation is at present hypothetical. If the need were to arise, I would not think it right to propose any change in the constitutional position without first seeking an electoral mandate.

Is my right hon. Friend aware that the hypothetical situation may be translated into reality within a few hours? If it is, will my right hon. Friend be assured that everyone on this side of the House and most of the people in the country will support him in the ruthless action that he may take to liquidate the Lords?

Order. The basis of the question being hypothetical, it is out of order.

asked the Prime Minister whether, in advising the Sovereign to accept an invitation to pay an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, Her Majesty's Government took into account the fact that a visit to West Berlin was likely to be arranged; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir. The initiative in advising a visit to West Berlin came from Her Majesty's Government.

In view of the fact that the City of Berlin is 100 miles within the Communist frontiers, was it not always a possibility that the presence of the Queen in West Berlin might intensify political differences? If these should become worse, would my right hon. Friend reconsider this part of the visit in conjunction with the West German Government?

While it was the previous Government who advised Her Majesty to visit Germany, I take full responsibility for the later advice that she should visit Berlin. So far as advertising differences or being provocative is concerned, I cannot agree with my hon. Friend. Less than three years ago I led what was, I think, the biggest delegation abroad from this House—over 40 hon. Members. I am sure that all those who went there would feel that the visit of Her Majesty on the advice of Her Majesty's Government would be a reassurance to the people of West Berlin and a sign of our determination to preserve their rights.

Is the Prime Minister aware that the visit of Her Majesty to West Berlin would be no excuse for the Communist Powers to make any demonstration of any kind? In view of the wide anxiety in the country about this visit, no doubt the right hon. Gentleman would not hesitate, should he feel it right to modify his point of view, to come to the House for support? I hope that he will not have to do so.

The right hon. Gentleman is correct. If we felt that there was any danger or anything which was inappropriate, we should not hesitate to modify the advice which has been given, although, as the House will know, President ennedy and other Heads of State have visited as a perfectly normal part of the visit by a Head of State.

:Is my right hon. Friend—

I think we must pass on.