HC Deb 10 March 1904 vol 131 cc765-6
MR. BLACK (Banffshire)

I beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether it is the intention of the Government to impose import duties of a retaliatory character without the authority of the House to each individual duty being first obtained.

MR. A. J. BALFOUR

It is not proposed to deal with the question of retaliation or of fiscal reform during the currency of the present Parliament, and I do not suppose the hon. Member would want to put a Question to me as to what is to take place in the next Parliament. Without, therefore, answering the Question, I may give him this consolatory information for what it is worth, that I do not think the House will ever part with its effective control over the taxation of the country.

MR. BLACK

Will the right hon. Gentleman say by what means he proposes to confer on the Executive——

MR. SPEAKER

Order, order. You cannot debate this. The hon. Member is in the habit of thinking that every Question requires a supplementary Question.