asked the Minister of Fuel and Power what is the estimated saving in dollars by the curtailment of the basic ration in the Channel Islands.

Up to the present petrol has been rationed in Guernsey alone. The estimated saving resulting from the abolition of the basic ration is 640 tons a year, the approximate cost of which, at present prices, would be 28,800 U.S. dollars. I understand that rationing will be introduced in Jersey on 1st January, but I have no reliable estimate of the saving which will follow.

Can the Minister justify this insignificant saving? Does it not reduce the whole of his scheme to a farce? Has he realised that the withdrawal of the basic ration in the Channel Islands and elsewhere is a definite stoppage of our ability to recover?

I am not responsible for what the Governments of the Channel Islands do, but I think we should be grateful to them for playing their part, and helping us in this matter.