HC Deb 26 February 1941 vol 369 cc507-9

The following Question stood upon the Order Paper in the name of Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore:

40. To ask the Secretary for Petroleum whether he will state the amount of petrol issued during the month of January in augmenting the allowance of those motorists engaged on the free-lifts plan; and what machinery is in force for ensuring that such petrol is consumed solely on the purposes for which it was allowed?

Sir T. Moore

On a point of Order, Mr. Speaker. Before this Question is answered, may I ask for your Ruling or advice? I addressed the Question in the first instance to my right hon. and gallant Friend the Minister of Transport, and it was accepted by the gentleman at the Table, which, I think, was an indication that it was all right. I then received a courteous intimation from the Minister of Transport that my Question had been passed on to the Secretary for Petroleum, but surely, although the Secretary for Petroleum would issue the petrol, it must be by the sanction and authority of the Minister of Transport, and therefore it is the Minister of Transport who should be answering the Question that I addressed to him?

Mr. Speaker

If the Question of the hon. and gallant Member was transferred, obviously the right hon. and gallant Gentleman was not the proper authority to answer it.

Sir T. Moore

I beg to ask Question No. 40.

The Secretary for Petroleum (Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd)

The additional issues of petrol involved in the "Help Your Neighbour" Scheme have not been large, but it would not be in the public interest to state the amount or to disclose the machinery In force for detecting abuses. I may say, however, that fines ranging from £10 to £50 have already been inflicted by the courts, and many other cases are under investigation.

Sir T. Moore

As obviously the machinery is not very satisfactory, is my hon. Friend aware that, in many cases, the particular additions of petrol are being used by a particularly pernicious type of motorist for a particularly selective kind of hospitality?

Mr. Lloyd

My right hon. Friend and myself in co-operation, when we started this scheme, realised that there might be some abuse of it, but we felt at the time —I think, rightly —that it was well to take that risk in view of the definite contribution that the scheme made in the circumstances.

Sir T. Moore

Is my hon. Friend satisfied that that contribution is being made by the right people for the right people?

Mr. Lloyd

Broadly speaking, I should say, Yes; but, on the other hand, the question of the continuation of the scheme is to be reviewed shortly by my right hon. Friend and myself.

Sir Herbert Williams

Does not the greatest safeguard against abuse lay in the fact that if a man does not use his petrol for the purposes indicated, his neighbours would give him away?

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