NEWSPRINT IN BRITAIN

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26363, 6 March 1951, Page 7

NEWSPRINT IN BRITAIN

CUT IN EXPORTS URGED

(Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON. March 5. Demanding in the House of mons that the Government should stop Ze exportAf newsprint to preserve Britain’s own press, Wing Commander Eric Bullus (Conservative), himself a journalist, forecast serious unemployment in the newspaper industry if the position got much worse. .... “■Die time is overdue for building up our own newsprint supplies and, if necessary, stopping some wppUes at I ofTrade (Mr Harold Wilson) may reply that these are now firm contracts; but these contracts were not sealed when he was urged to make these stocks available to the home market. If we had to lose our newspapers, or if any further decrease of supplies came, it would be a blow to morale and much unemployment would reSU '‘The recent 5 per cent, cut could have been avoided. The newsprint position to-day is worse than at any time in the history of modern newspapers. Most newspapers have retained their staffs, but it is impossible to continue such an uneconomic position indefinitely. The position, frankly, is Mr Wilson said that a reduction of 1 per cent, in United States newsprint consumption would enable Britain to restore all recent cuts, to get rid of tonnage rationing, and to resume free circulation on a six-page basis. “Members have often referred to the different scales of newsprint consumption in different countries, ana I think some agreement on this point would be a good thing. Prices and demands have gone up world-wide. The production of all types of paper, except newsprint, is running above the pre-war level.”