11 MARCH 1966, Page 29

What's cooking with the Gas and Electricity Councils? Since last

month's Which? on choosing a cooker, so boringly rehearsed on BBC's Choice, there have been some polite exchanges between Buckingham Street and Grosvenor Place on !he matter of which cooker has the most advantages. Gas, for example, is said to have lower running costs, to be more responsive and adaptable, as well as, tnirabile dictu, leaving the cooker easier to clean.

What irritates me about this carping between the Councils (on top of the sharping with con- nection charges. which still goes on) is that they seem to ot erlook the fact that the consumer might like to have the best of both fuels and use the Cannon Fifti-Fifti, with a gas hob and an electric oxen. Their showrooms rarely stock it and, being a hybrid, owners find it difficult to have it serviced. Isn't it time that the Minister put a stop to this kind of competition? Accord- ing to the recent PEP report on Fuel Policy, we still don't hate one. What about it, Mr. Lee?

One good thing, however, seems to have re- sulted: electric cookers have come down in price and eas cookers have improved in perfor- mance and design to the point where they are quite as versatile as electric.