§ 33. Mr. MACQUISTENasked the Home Secretary whether, in view of the increasing popular resentment against the continuance of the existence of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), he will take steps to forthwith abolish the Board?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe Government have already stated that they cannot undertake legislation on this subject during the present Session.
§ Mr. MACQUISTENIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that a very large number of the Members of this House desired to debate and vote upon the Liquor Control Board as a simple issue that they sent in a requisition signed by between 100 and 200 asking for a day; that they balloted for a day and got a day, but that the election of Mr. Speaker to the Chair coming up upon that day caused them to lose their chance? Will he not now give the Members of this House an opportunity of debating and voting upon the question of this Control Board as a simple issue in which the public are very much concerned?
§ Mr. SHORTTI have heard of some of the facts mentioned by my hon. Friend.
Sir F. HALLWhy do the Government desire to burk any inquiry into this matter, and why will they not allow discussion in the House?
§ Mr. MACQUISTENWill the right hon. Gentleman answer the question?
§ Mr. SHORTTI have answered it already.
§ Mr. MACQUISTENI propose at the conclusion of Questions to ask leave to move the Adjournment of the House in order to raise this matter.
§ 34. Mr. MACQUISTENasked the Home Secretary whether the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, who is chairman of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), is in the latter capacity entirely independent of the Home Office; and, if this is the case, is there any vote in respect whereof the Control Board's actions may be discussed?
§ Mr. SHORTTThe answer to the first paragraph is in the affirmative: the answer to the second paragraph is that the Vote for the Central Control Board itself is the Vote upon which the Board's actions may be discussed.
§ 35. Lieut.-Colonel HILDERasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, as chairman of the Central Control Board (Liquor Traffic), if he can state in what respect the restrictions on the sale of fermented and spirituous liquors are modified in certain favoured districts; and will he give the list of those districts and explain the reason for this differentiation?
§ The UNDER-SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPARTMENT (Sir John Baird)On the assumption that the question refers to the areas which have never been scheduled under the Defence of the Realm (Liquor Control) Regulations, 1915, the answer is that no restrictions have ever been applied to them by the Central Control Board. No modification of their position has therefore been made by the recent Orders of the Board, which apply in substantially identical terms to the scheduled areas of Great Britain generally, i.e., to the districts which are defined in Article 1 of each of the Orders.