§ 84. Mr. SCURRasked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that inquests were held in London during 1926 on 17 persons in which the verdicts attributed the cause of death to excessive drinking, most of the cases being due to the in creased habit of drinking methylated spirit; and whether he proposes to intro duce legislation to secure that this spirit shall be rendered unpalatable for drinking purposes.
§ Sir W. JOYNSON-HICKSI will, with permission, circulate the answer in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. MACQUISTENArising out of the question, will the right hon. Gentleman use his influence with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reduce the price of whisky to a reasonable figure?
§ Following is the answer:
§ Sir. W. JOYNSON-HICKSThe figure given by the hon. Member is correct, and compares favourably with the corresponding figures for 1923 and 1924, which were 31 and 35 respectively. I cannot confirm that the beverage was methylated spirit, but on that assumption the figures give some reason to hope that the introduction of pyridine as an ingredient, which began on 1st May, 1924, has had beneficial results; and the suggestion is supported by a substantial decrease in 1925 of the number of persons convicted of drunken-
| Defence Expenditure. | ||||||
| — | Effective. | Middle East. | Annual Charges for the service of previous Naval and Military Works loans. | Non-Effective. | Total. | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| 1907–8 | … | 49,867,000 | — | 2,337,000 | 6,186,000 | 58,390,000 |
| 1908–9 | … | 50,367,000 | — | 2,387,000 | 6,286,000 | 59,040,000 |
| 1909–10 | … | 54,052,000 | — | 2,477,000 | 6,448,000 | 62,977,000 |
| 1910–11 | … | 58,943,000 | — | 2,474,000 | 6,551,000 | 67,968,000 |
| 1911–12 | … | 61,220,000 | — | 2,189,000 | 6,657,000 | 70,066,000 |
| 1912–13 | … | 63,978,000 | — | 2,202,000 | 6,776,000 | 72,956,000 |
| 1913–14 | … | 68,051,000 | — | 2,188,000 | 6,860,000 | 77,099,000 |
| 1919–20 | … | 593,704,000 | — | 2,238,000 | 24,260,000 | 620,202,000 |
| 1920–21 | … | 259,656,000 | — | 2,238,000 | 15,988,000 | 277,882,000 |
| 1921–22 | … | 159,342,000 | 23,246,000 | 2,238,000 | 14,066,000 | 198,892,000 |
| 1922–23 | … | 95,552,000 | 7,637,000 | 2,194,000 | 18,965,000 | 124,318,000 |
| 1923–24 | … | 93,352,000 | 4,808,000 | 2,068,000 | 15,793,000 | 116,021,000 |
| 1924–25 | … | 97,404,000 | 4,107,000 | 2,068,000 | 16,092,000 | 119,671,000 |
| 1925–26* | … | 102,933,000 | 3,432,000 | 1,487,000 | 16,093,000 | 123,945,000 |
| * Estimated. |