HC Deb 27 September 1939 vol 351 cc1390-1

Motion made, and Question proposed, That on and after the twenty-eighth day of September, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, the duties of customs charged on spirits of the descriptions set out in the first column of the following Table by Sub-section (1) of Section three of the Finance Act, 1920, in addition to the duties specified in Part II of the First Schedule to that Act shall—

  1. (a) in the case of spirits being Empire products, be charged at the increased rates shown in the second column of that Table; and
  2. (b) in the case of spirits not being Empire products, be charged at the increased rates shown in the third column of that Table. 1391

Mr. E. Smith

Before this Resolution is put, Sir Dennis, I wish to ask for your guidance. There is a growing interest in industry about the need of the nation to provide itself with alternative supplies of fuel owing to the rationing of petrol, as a result of which rationing, a large amount of transport has been taken off the roads. There is a growing demand that the Government should encourage alternative supplies and this would mean that certain taxation would have to be reduced, such as the taxation on crude oil and other fuel used for Diesel engines and other forms of motive power. Will it be possible, during to-morrow and Friday, to raise that issue if we part with this Resolution now?

The Chairman

I was about to interrupt the hon. Member and I am glad that he put his point at last. It would be inconvenient, under the course which the Committee has assented to, for hon. Members to discuss these Resolutions separately now. The last Resolution to be read from the Chair will not be put to be voted upon, until the whole Debate has been completed, and in the course of the Debate on that last Resolution, all matters which are in order on any of the Budget Resolutions will, according to custom, be open to debate.

Question put, and agreed to.