Mr Sydney Irving: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the figures he gave earlier this afternoon will shock the country, which is already very disturbed by the increase in cancer? Is he satisfied that no promising line of research has been neglected through lack of funds? Is he also aware that the country would not begrudge any sum of money in respect of the alleviation of the terrible sufferings of this...
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the Minister of Health, as representing the Lord President of the Council, what steps he is taking to organise research into the prevention, alleviation and possible cure of incontinency among the aged.
Mr Sydney Irving: Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman bear in mind that any advance in this respect would bring considerable relief and a sense of health to many old people, and would reduce the burden on those who have the residential care of old people? In view of the increasing proportion of the aged in our community, will the Minister take steps to co-ordinate, as well as increase, the amount of...
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what reply was given by the Government of Nigeria to the proposal of the All-Nigeria Trade Union Federation to nationalise the mining industry and to withdraw from the International Tin Council.
Mr Sydney Irving: Will the hon. Gentleman bear in mind the hardship caused by this restrictive export agreement and the fact that already there are 5,000 out of work in Nigeria? Does not this call for a different kind of marketing of raw materials, particularly in the Commonwealth?
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to what extent the Federal Government of Nigeria have been concerned with the granting of oil concessions to the Shell-B.P. Petroleum Company; and what conditions, with regard to the sharing of profits, if the oil so far discovered is found to be of commercial value, have been established by the contracting parties.
Mr Sydney Irving: I think that we all welcome the arrival of some of this oil in this country. It is an historic moment and we hope that there will be more to come. Will the hon. Gentleman urge on the oil companies a most generous and wise settlement of this matter, because the oil comes from the poorest Nigerian Region—the Eastern Region—and we hope for a satisfactory solution of the problem?
Mr Sydney Irving: Hon. Members opposite have taken some pride in what has been done for education by their Government and we do not deny them the right to be proud. But surely this is an occasion when we should took at what is yet to be done and consider what progress is likely to be made An the future. I should have thought that twelve or thirteen years after the war we are entitled to expect a much...
Mr Sydney Irving: There are circumstances when grammar schools require more expensive equipment. But buildings are very much better and the staff is very much higher qualified academically, and in every way the opportunity for the grammar school child is much better and higher. If we look at the latest U.N.E.S.C.O. figures we shall find that we are lagging behind Canada, Denmark, West Germany, Iceland, New...
Mr Sydney Irving: I accept the hon. Gentleman's point, but some of the comparisons are so greatly to our disfavour that even when we cut them down considerably the point is still well made that we are lagging behind a number of other countries. One of the disasters likely to flow from Government action in recent times is the abrogation of the power of the Minister of Education to maintain standards, in view...
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what support was given by the United Kingdom delegate to the recent London meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation Working Party of the United Nations to a policy of international price stabilisation for cocoa; and if he will recommend such a policy at the present meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation Cocoa Study Group...
Mr Sydney Irving: In view of the great damage which has been caused to the economies and revenues of the cocoa-producing countries because of these widespread fluctuations, will the hon. Gentleman not get the British Government to take a new initiative in this matter and to use their influence with the United States of America to bring about some sort of price stabilisation scheme?
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if the problem of international price stabilisation will be on the agenda of the Ministerial Commonwealth Trade and Economic Conference to be held in Montreal in September.
Mr Sydney Irving: Would the right hon. and gallant Gentleman bear in mind that there are hon. Members on both sides of the House who think that this is one of the most important and urgent of the subjects that are to be discussed at the Commonwealth Economic Conference, and that failure to deal with this problem will inhibit the proper development of the Commonwealth, and indeed of the Western world? Will he...
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken to develop machinery for follow-up investigation of agreements which have to be abandoned either after a decision of the Court of Restrictive Practices or which have been stated to have been abandoned before registration.
Mr Sydney Irving: Will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that 1,200 agreements have been abandoned or varied before reference to the Court and nearly 100 declared illegal or varied after reference to the Court Does he not agree that without adequate machinery the whole legislation will become ineffective and there is no protection for the consumer? Will he reconsider the matter?
Mr Sydney Irving: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the latest figure for the consumption a head per annum of fresh fruit in this country; and how this compares with the pre-war figures.
Mr Sydney Irving: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that not only is this country the only one in Europe showing a decrease in its consumption of fresh fruit, but that in a comparison with pre-war figures Switzerland and America are consuming two and a half times as much as they used to? In view of the health-giving properties of fresh fruit, what is his Department doing to encourage its consumption?
Mr Sydney Irving: Is my hon. Friend aware that I had a letter from Dartford Rural District Council this morning stating that the waiting period in its area is three to four months?
Mr Sydney Irving: Does the Leader of the House anticipate that the House will have an early opportunity to discuss the Roberts Report on Public Libraries?
