HC Deb 16 July 1947 vol 440 cc471-2
Mr. Glenvil Hall

I beg to move, in page r, line i6, after the second "oils." to insert," or any kerosene."

Perhaps it would be convenient if, on this Amendment, I dealt with the consequential Amendments to page 2

Mr. Speaker

It would be as well to take them all together.

Mr. Glenvil Hall

We are here adding kerosene to the other oils which were exempted from duty by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor when he made his Budget statement. During the passage of the Resolution through the House, and later on during Committee, a good deal of pressure was brought to bear on my right hon. Friend, from every quarter of the House, to include kerosene, both because of its use in tractors on farms and because the oil lamp is still used in thousands of cottage homes. The cost of the concession will be 1½million. These Amendments put kerosene into the same category as other heavy oils.

Mr. Orr-Ewing (Weston-super-Mare)

As the initiator of the Debate which led to the undertaking which the Financial Secretary is now implementing, I should like to offer him my thanks. During Committee we sought to introduce words which were equal in effect to those of the present Amendment, but our drafting was not satisfactory. I think the present drafting is far simpler, and makes the position quite clear. The Chancellor is at least doing something for agriculture, which is our greatest dollar saver. The only thing it does not do is to supply the necessary kerosene. Still, I thank him.

Amendment agreed to.

Further Amendments made: In page 2, line 20, at end, insert: the expression' kerosene ' means hydrocarbon oils which are not light oils as defined in Subsection (3) of Section two of the Finance Act, 1928, and of which more than fifty per cent by volume distils at a temperature not exceeding 240 degrees centigrade

In line 23, leave out "and gas oils. and insert" gas oils and kerosene."

In line 25, leave out "means oils as defined in," and insert "has the meaning assigned to it by."

In line 27, after "shall,' insert: (a) except as to Subsection (1) thereof so far as it relates to kerosene

In line 29, at end, insert: and (b) as to Subsection (1) thereof so far as it relates to kerosene, come into operation at six o'clock in the evening on the thirty-first day of August nineteen hundred and forty-seven "—[Mr. Glenvil Hall.]