HC Deb 17 May 1934 vol 289 cc1931-2
30. Mr. MALLALIEU

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which beet-sugar factories were investigated in the actuarial investigation carried out on behalf of the Treasury in or about July, 1933, and what was the result of the investigation in each case?

Mr. CHAMBERLAIN

All the beet-sugar factories in the United Kingdom have allowed their books to be investigated by an independent firm of account- ants on behalf of the Treasury, six in 1933 and the remainder in the current year. The accountants' reports have been communicated to the Greene Committee; pending that committee's report I do not think it desirable to make any further statement.

Mr. MALLALIEU

Will the right hon. Gentleman say whether that investigation shows the truth of the generally held belief that the Anglo-Scottish Beet-Sugar Corporation, run by Lord Weir, is an unsound and thoroughly ill-run concern, unworthy of public money being poured into it?