asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether any further cut is proposed in national expenditure to compensate for the discovery that the annual saving to the Exchequer from reducing the number of electoral registers from two to one will be £650,000, not £800,000.

No, Sir. Further economy in Government expenditure generally is being pursued irrespective of any reductions already announced in specific services.

As the Government have made three shots at this estimate already—first £800,000, then £400,000 and now £650,000—and as it is clear that some other estimates—for instance, the yield from the shilling tax on prescriptions—will be very far out, does he think that there is any chance of the total saving from cuts being realised?

I do not think that a variation of £150,000 in £280 million is very excessive.