§ 51. Mr. W. J. BROWNasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is able to make arrangements to permit of civil servants being able to spread over a longer period the increased Income Tax payments due under the new Budget instead of being obliged to find three-quarters of the whole year's tax by 1st January?
§ Mr. P. SNOWDENI will look into the matter.
§ Mr. SPEAKERMr. Campbell.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe answer was given.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThere was a great deal of noise going on and the hon. Member could not have heard the reply.
§ Mr. BROWNI have received no reply whatever, and no reply has been given since I rose in my place to put Question 51. I desire to ask that that Question should be answered.
Mr. HARDIEThe same thing applied when the Chancellor was making a reply to me. I could not hear. Did I understand him to say that he was going to look into the matter?
§ Mr. BROWNOn a point of Order. I wish to put it to you, Mr. Speaker, that from the moment that I rose in my place to put Question 51, which I did in a perfectly audible voice, there has been no reply of any kind from the Chancellor, and I ask you to see that the question is answered.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe Chancellor of the Exchequer replied—[Interruption.]
§ Mr. BROWNOn a point of fact—[Interruption.] We will fetch the Navy to you fellows before you are done.
§ Mr. SPEAKERI will invite the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reply again, but I do not think that the hon. Member can ask any more questions.
§ Mr. SNOWDENI will refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I have given already.
§ Mr. CAMPBELLI wish to ask No. 52, Sir.
§ Mr. BROWNOn a point of Order. I desire to submit to you that the latest observation of the Chancellor in referring me to an earlier reply, which either has not been given at all or, if given, was inaudible, implies disrespect to the Chair. I ask you to request the Chancellor of the Exchequer to give the reply to Question 51 in terms which are intelligible and audible.
§ Mr. ALBERYArising from that point of Order. Is it not a fact that the hon. Member has little more cause for complaint than I have, because I did not hear the answer?
§ Mr. SPEAKERIt would he very much better if we got on with Questions.
§ Mr. BROWNOn a point of Order. I understood you to request a few moments ago that the Chancellor of the Exchequer should repeat the reply which he says he gave. His answer to that was to refer to his previous reply which, if made, was quite inaudible. I do not desire to occupy the time of the House—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"]—but I respectfully, but firmly, request that there should be a reply to Question 51.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe Chancellor gave a reply.
§ Mr. BROWNOn a point of Order. I desire to submit to you that it is the right of Members of the House to put questions on the Paper with due notice, and to receive a reply. Question No. 51 was given with due notice. I rose in my place to ask the question as soon as I understood you to call upon me, and I have not yet received an answer. I beg that you will exercise your authority and request that an answer be given.
§ Mr. STEPHENI would like to submit that the confusion has arisen from the fact that when the Chancellor of the Exchequer was answering this question he was thought by hon. Members over here, owing to the noise, to be answering supplementary questions to the previous question. Would it not be ordinary courtesy for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in these circumstances, to repeat the answer?
Mr. ARTHUR HENDERSONMay I say that I heard what the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, but that I thought he was replying to the supplementary question of the hon. Member for Spring-burn (Mr. G. Hardie)? In the circumstances, I think the matter would be cleared up by the Chancellor of the Exchequer repeating the answer.
§ Mr. SPEAKERI have said before that when the question was asked originally the Chancellor of the Exchequer replied. I saw it myself. Whether the hon. Member heard it or not is another matter. I did not hear it myself, but that was not my fault; it was because the noise in the House was so great. Hon. Members themselves are really their worst enemies. If they did not make so 1031 much noise, they would hear the answers. It seems to be a very small thing about which to make a fuss.
§ Mr. SNOWDENrose—
§ Mr. SPEAKERI will finish what I am saying. The hour for questions will be concluded shortly, and I am sure that if it be the wish of the House that he should do so, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will repeat the answer.
§ Mr. SNOWDENOut of respect for you, Mr. Speaker—[HON. MEMBERS: "Oh!"]—I do so. The answer is that the matter is under consideration.