§ 46. Viscount SANDONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the estimated annual loss to the Treasury out of the £26,250,000 received in 1926–27 from breakfast-table duties if such products from the Empire were admitted free?
§ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER (Mr. Churchill)On the basis of the quantities of Empire commodities on which duty was paid in 1926/27, and applying the current rates of sugar duty, the loss would have been about £9,000,000 a year. But since it is probable that duty-free Empire goods would replace to an ever-growing extent the dutiable products of foreign origin, the annual loss to the Exchequer would no doubt substantially exceed this figure.