§ MR. BURT (Morpeth)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, Whether there is any truth in the statement made in The Observer, of the 11th instant, to the effect that the
Government will not resist a proposal to renew the Coal and Wine Dues for one year, pending changes in the local government of the Metropolis?
§ THE FIRST LORD (Mr. W. H. SMITH) (Strand, Westminster)My attention was first called to the statement alluded to by the Question of the hon. Member. There is no foundation for the suggestion that the Government have, in the slightest degree, departed from the attitude they took on this question in 1886 and 1887.