§ 62. Mr. KENNEDYasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has received a request from the Thetford Board of Guardians for a refund of duty paid on tobacco consumed by the workhouse inmates; and whether, in view of the fact that if there are 50,000 inhabitants of the workhouses who consume one ounce of tobacco each per week, this means that it costs the ratepayers 1963 £82,600 to provide £28,500 worth of tobacco for the comfort of the destitute poor, he will consider the advisability of allowing in future a total remission or a substantial reduction of the duty on all tobacco grown in this country and supplied to boards of guardians, and thus encourage the development of the industry in this country and at the same time bring some relief to the already overburdened rates?
§ Sir R. HORNEThere is no provision in the law under which this request could be granted, and I am not prepared to adopt the suggestion contained in the concluding part of the question.