§ MR. HARMOOD-BANNER (Liverpool, Everton)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer when it is intended to apply the provisions of Clause 1 of the Revenue Bill to the manufacture of alcohol for use as motor spirit, so as to cheapen the cost of production and enable alcohol to compete with petrol as a means of propulsion.
§ (Answered by Mr. Asquith.) I am advised that the "Industrial Methylated Spirit" authorised by Section 1 and denned by Section 4 of The Revenue Act, 1906, could not in any circumstances be allowed to be used for motor cars. The Departmental Committee on Industrial Alcohol [Cd. 2472] reported as follows: "It is manifest that alcohol used for this purpose must be denatured in the most effectual and most permanent manner. Happily this will not present any difficulty, as there is no evidence to suggest that the mineralised methylated spirit in common use in this country is in any way unsuitable or detrimental for this purpose."