§ MR. CAINE (Bradford, E.)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been directed to certain statements which have appeared in The Ironmonger as to the alleged danger of the present flash point, 73°, of lamp oils sold chiefly among the poor; whether the Government have any intention of raising the flash point to 100° as suggested by various experts; and whether he has been officially informed of Resolutions passed by the Glasgow and Manchester sections of the Society of Chemical In- 444 dustry condemning the present system and recommending the raising of the flash point?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (Mr. ASQUITH,) Fife, E.No alteration in flash point can be effected without legislation. The point is, I understand, an extremely disputable one, and one upon which the opinion of competent authorities and conflicting interests largely differs. Neither this point nor the many other points in connection with the existing legislation relating to mineral oils which invite consideration could be dealt with except after careful inquiry by a Parliamentary Committee, at which the views of the various parties interested would be presented, and there is no present prospect of the state of Public Business affording the necessary opportunities for the legislative treatment of this intricate and important subject. No official Report of the resolutions to which my hon. Friend refers in the last paragraph of his question has been received.