asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what approaches he has received from interested persons or organisations requesting that, as he has removed Purchase Tax from maintenance television tubes, he should do the same for maintenance valves, in view of the exact similarity in the arguments for the abolition of Purchase Tax on these articles.

None, Sir.

But is the Minister aware that the arguments used with regard to television tubes and replacement tubes can be applied exactly to radio valves? If the Chancellor thought it wise to take the tax off television tubes, why should he not take it off the valves which go in the same set? Exactly the same arguments apply.

The trouble is that the arguments are very different. The cathode ray tube is a very much more expensive item of equipment. There is also the reconditioning problem which has been removed by eliminating Purchase Tax on cathode ray tubes. Further, radio valves are frequently sold separately for people to build into sound receivers of their own manufacture. I mention all these points to show that the two arguments are not at all the same.