§ 29. Mr. JOHNSTONasked the Minister of Labour if he can give any estimate of the number of men employed as a result of the subsidies paid to the refiners of sugar beet under the Beet Sugar Subsidy Act, and the number of men unemployed as a result of the depression in the factories for the refining of imported raw sugar?
§ Mr. BETTERTONI understand from my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture that there are about 8,400 workers at present employed in the beet sugar factories, but the additional number engaged on the land or in industries ancillary to the sugar beet factories, owing to the operation of the subsidy, cannot be stated. As regards the last part of the question, separate statistics of the numbers unemployed in the sugar refining industry are not available.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONHow is it that the Ministry can supply figures for gas mantles and other safeguarded industries and cannot supply figures for beet sugar?
§ Mr. BETTERTONI should like notice of that question, but I am pretty certain that it is.
§ Colonel WEDGWOODCan the hon. Gentleman supply figures of the number of people who are thrown out of work owing to the reduced purchasing power of the taxpayers who have to provide the subsidy?
§ Mr. BETTERTONWith regard to the question of the hon. Member for South Poplar (Mr. March), the answer was given by my right hon. Friend the other day. We have a general classification for food industries, but there is no separate classification for sugar refining.
§ Mr. JOHNSTONMay I repeat my question. How is it that the Ministry are able to supply figures for every other industry except beet sugar?
§ Mr. BETTERTONI have just answered that question. We have a general classification for food industries, but no separate classification for sugar refining.