§ 37. Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has received a resolution, passed unanimously by the National Federation of Paint, Colour, and Varnish Manufacturers of the United Kingdom, protesting against the turpentine duties as imposing burdens on the paint and varnish industry; if he is aware that turpentine is a vegetable spirit which costs three times as much to produce as white spirit and can only he considered a competitior of white spirit in that it s use at considerably increased cost results in the production of paint and varnish of higher quality; that turpentine cannot in any circumstances be produced in Great Britain and is in- 331 capable of use in internal combustion engines; and whether, in these circumstances, he will favourably consider exempting turpentine used in the manufacture of paint and varnish from duty?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLA resolution such as is mentioned in the first part of the Question and containing the statements made in the second and third parts, has been received. As regards the fourth part, I regret that I cannot see my way to give the exemption suggested.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYWhen the right hon. Gentleman originally said it was impossible to exempt turpentine, he also said the same thing about paraffin, and, in view of the rebate in the case, of paraffin, does he not think the time has come to exempt this productive material used by manufacturers in very important trades?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe hon. and gallant Gentleman will no doubt raise the point in the discussions on the Petrol Duty.
§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYDoes not the right hon. Gentleman see that if I can persuade him to reconsider this matter before the discussions come on I shall have a far better chance of persuading him then?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLNo, Sir, I am afraid I cannot. It would hardly be courteous to the House for me to anticipate the course of the debates in Committee.
§ 40. Sir JOHN MARRIOTTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his attention has been called to the hardship arising in connection with Clause 2 (4) (a) of the Finance Bill in the case of firms which carry on the double business of garage agents and omnibus proprietors when the aggregate of both stocks of petrol exceeds 10,000 gallons; and whether he will instruct the custom and excise officials to discriminate for purposes of duty between the two stocks, and so avoid unfair competition on the part of firms acting only as garage agents.
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThere does not appear to be any ground for such a discrimination as is suggested in the last part of the Question. Under the Clause, 332 any petrol used between 25th April and 8th May by the firm in whose stock it was on the former date is excluded in determining whether that firm's stock exceeded 10,000 gallons and therefore was liable to duty. The combination of a garage and an omnibus business could thus only affect the firm's liability to duty in what I understand to be the unlikely event of its holding more than a fortnight's stock on account of its omnibus business.