§ 69. Mr. Hardieasked the Secretary for Mines the cost of petrol production per gallon by the hydrogenation process at Billingham?
§ The Secretary for Mines (Captain Crookshank)I am not in a position to supply the information asked for.
§ Mr. HardieWhy is it, although the people of this country are being compelled to pay for this experiment, that we are denied any information of what is taking place at this plant at Billingham?
§ Mr. James GriffithsWhen is it proposed that the House and the nation shall know something about this Billingham experiment, in view of the fact that it has the protection of the nation? In view of its supreme importance to the mining industry, may we press for an early reply?
§ Captain CrookshankI cannot possibly say. I have told the House many times that the commercial success or otherwise of this experiment has not yet been proved. We must wait for the information, which I hope will be available eventually from Imperial Chemical Industries, with whom it rests to supply it.
§ Mr. HardieIs it not a fact that the technical information is there, and that its commercial value has been determined? Otherwise the I.C.I. men are all fools. But they are not.
§ 70. Mr. Hardieasked the Secretary for Mines the loss of revenue on the production of 150,000 tons of petrol at Billingham hydrogenation process based upon the 8d. per gallon on imported petrol?
§ Captain CrookshankAssuming approximately 300 gallons of motor spirit to the ton, the import tax of 8d. a gallon on 150,000 tons of imported motor spirit would realise about £1,500,000.
§ Mr. HardieDoes the Minister realise from the figures he has given that for every miner taken on to produce coal, for every shilling which is thus being saved in unemployment pay, 12s. has to go to the I.C.I.? That is what those figures mean, and why cannot we have some explanation of them?