asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he now intends to hold a public inquiry into the conviction of James Hanratty for the A6 murder.

I have considered with great care the representations made to me about this case.Mr. Peter Louis Alphon has withdrawn his earlier confession that he committed the murder of which Hanratty was convicted. His involvement in the case was an issue at Hanratty's trial, and neither his confession nor other allegations about his part in the case are supported by new material of substance.Material has been submitted about Hanratty's claim that he was in Rhyl on 22nd and 23rd August, 1961, the date on which the murder took place. At my request Detective Chief Superintendent J. D. Nimmo of the Manchester City Police, who had not previously had any connection with the case, has made detailed and exhaustive investigations covering all possible lines of enquiry into the alibi.This alibi was also an issue at the trial. It turned largely on identification (as did the case against Hanratty at the trial), and retrospective statements about identification cannot easily be given greater weight than those made with fresh recollection at the time of the trial, over five years ago. These difficulties could be set aside only if Mr. Nimmo's investigations had turned up some new evidence of substance which raised material doubts about the original statements.Mr. Nimmo's thorough investigations have not had that result. He has found nothing to strengthen the evidence called at the trial on Hanratty's behalf and no further evidence which, if put before the jury, might have influenced the verdict. The only witness from Rhyl who now appears to give direct confirmation of the alibi is a lady who claims that she saw Hanratty in Rhyl for a few minutes on the evening of 22nd August, 1961. But the defence, after interviewing her during the trial, decided not to call her as a witness; after the trial she was shown photographs of Hanratty by the defence and made a statement in which she declined to give a definite identification. When she was seen by Mr. Nimmo, she at first maintained that she had given a definite identification to the defence in 1962. Mr. Nimmo's conclusion (with which I agree) is that her firm identification of Hanratty is of recent origin and is in all the circumstances unreliable. None of the other Rhyl witnesses claims a positive identification relating to a particular date.I have accordingly decided that there are no grounds for taking any further action in this case.

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government when it is hoped to start the work on the sewage disposal scheme for Eaglescliffe and Preston-on-Tees.

I understand that Stockton Rural District Council expect to be in a position to start work on their scheme by mid-1968.

asked the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to prevent the sale of the Cunard liners "Caronia", "Sylvania" and "Carinthia" to foreign shipping lines which are in competition with British shipping.

I think that the sale of these ships should proceed on a normal commercial basis.

asked the President of the Board of Trade how many small exporters in Scotland were congratulated this year for their efforts in the export market; and if he will list their names.

21 firms have received letters of congratulation from the Minister of State, Board of Trade, for their export efforts in Scotland this year. The firms are:

• Joy Manufacturing Company (U.K.) Ltd.
• Cockburns Ltd.
• Gleniffer Engines Ltd.
• Weir-Pacific Valves, Ltd.
• Bridge of Weir Leather Co., Ltd.
• William Brown Sons & Co. Ltd.
• Andrew Stewart (Woollens) Ltd.
• M. & G. Crampin Ltd.
• W. & J. Knox Ltd.
• A. I. Welders Ltd.
• James Johnston & Co. of Elgin Ltd.
• George Roberts & Co. Ltd.
• W. Gladstone & Co. Ltd.
• Holmes & Allan Ltd.
• David Bennie amp; Sons Ltd.
• Hugh Smith (Glasgow) Ltd.
• David Carlaw (Engineers) Ltd.
• James Bertram & Son Ltd.
• The Bergius—Kelvin Company Ltd.
• James Brown & Co. Ltd.
• McLuckie Engineering Ltd.

asked the President of the Board of Trade what is the composition of the committee to inquire into civil air transport.

In addition to Sir Ronald Edwards, K.B.E., the Chairman, and Sir Hugh Tett the Deputy Chairman, whose appointments were announced on 11th September, 1967, I have now appointed the following persons to serve as members of the Committee:

• Mr. A. W. Fisher
• Dr. M. G. Kendall.
• Mr. P. Shelbourne.
• Captain F. A. Taylor, M.V.O., D.F.C.

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the financial talks recently held with the Government of Mauritius.

A delegation from Mauritius, led by the Premier, was in London from 18–27th October. They represented that, for reasons including the growth of population, their Government faced substantial deficits in the capital and recurrent budgets for 1967–68. They undertook to bring the recurrent budget into balance by 1968–69 and to limit their capital budget for 1967–68 to an agreed figure. On this basis and subject to Parliamentary approval, Her Majesty's Government agreed to give additional aid of £2·8 million, making a total of £4·3 million to meet the residual deficit in the Mauritius financial year 1967–68. It may be necessary to obtain an advance from the Civil Contingencies Fund pending submission of the necessary supplementary estimate.