§ Mr. Turton (Thirsk and Malton)I beg to move, in page 3, line 38, after "charged," to insert:
in respect of sweets other than mead.
The ChairmanIt may be for the convenience of the Committee that the next Amendment, in the name of the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton), in page 3, line 39, after "Act," to insert:
and in respect of mead at the rate of one shilling for every gallon,should be discussed at the same time. Perhaps we might also include the proposed new Clause standing in the name of the same hon. Member and dealing with exemption of mead from Excise liquor licences.
§ Mr. TurtonIn the last Debate, my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Mr. Eccles) talked about our being a wine-drinking country at a certain stage in our history. If we go back further into our history, we shall find that England was a mead-drinking country. The transformation about which the Financial Secretary to the Treasury spoke has now become complete. Owing to the very heavy duty on mead imposed by the Socialist Government, the commercial production of mead has, I am informed, completely stopped. The original duty was put on by Mr. Lloyd George in the famous Budget of 1910. It was a duty of 1s. per gallon, which was placed on mead and other sweets. That duty was raised to 1s. 6d. per gallon in 1928. The Socialist Government raised that duty from 1s. 6d. to 22s. 6d. per gallon, thereby completely killing that part of the agricultural industry that was producing the drink called mead.
Now the Chancellor of the Exchequer is proposing to reduce the duty from 22s. 6d. to 10s. 6d. per gallon. I am told that that will not allow this industry to revive. It is quite impracticable for the bee keepers of this country to sell mead commercially if they have to pay a duty of 10s. 6d. a gallon and in addition take out a licence of five guineas for the production of mead.
271 It is true that, unlike many years ago, there is not a great desire to drink mead. I do not know what would be the views of the hon. Member for West Ealing (Mr. J. Hudson) on this point, whether he would agree that it would be better for people to drink mead, which is certainly not intoxicating, than to drink cider or some other drink which is regarded as teetotal. In my part of the country mead has been regarded more as a medicine than as a drink. It is used as a cure for rheumatism and gout.
§ Mr. Rankin (Glasgow, Tradeston)Guinness is regarded as a medicine.
§ Mr. TurtonIt is likely that Scotland has that regard for Guinness, but I cannot think that the hon. Member for Tradeston (Mr. Rankin) has ever drunk mead if he compares it with Guinness, which is a very different drink.
§ Mr. RankinI have drunk neither.
§ Mr. TurtonThe last time this matter was raised in the House of Commons was in 1937 when we were asking that the duty of 1s. 6d. should be removed. At that time Lord Simon was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he gave an undertaking that he would reconsider it before his next Budget, but, unfortunately, by that time he was not Chancellor of the Exchequer but Lord Chancellor, and the matter was not pursued. I was asked to put down this Amendment by my county association of bee-keepers. Most hon. Members will find that they have a county association of bee-keepers who are very interested in the production of mead. My county association has some 5,000 members and I believe that there are 10,000 bee-keepers in Yorkshire, and all of them are anxious that bee-keeping shall be given this encouragement and that they shall not be prevented from producing mead. This is a small rural industry which I cannot believe the Chancellor wishes to discourage in this way.
The real difficulty arises because mead is not like the other sweets referred to in the Clause, which are the rather noxious cordials which are composed of fruit and some slightly intoxicating fruit drinks. This is something quite different. It is the old English drink made from honey, and it is really only a liquid form of honey which has undergone a pro- 272 cess of fermentation. I was in some difficulty, Major Milner, as to whether I should produce a bottle for your inspection in the Chamber. I felt that it might be regarded as a missile and would therefore be out of Order, but I have provided myself with a bottle of mead outside the precincts of the Chamber so that the Chancellor of the Exchequer can either in the course of this Debate or after this Debate, partake of mead and satisfy himself whether it is a medicine or whether it is some form of intoxicating liquor.
§ Mr. W. J. BrownAfter the next Adjournment Debate.
§ Mr. TurtonI cannot believe that the balance of the Budget will be unduly upset if the Chancellor accepts this Amendment. I hope that he will consider this matter and see whether he can relieve the bee-keepers of what they regard as an unjust imposition. The first time this matter was raised in the House of Commons it had a startling effect on the Chancellor of the Exchequer. When we first raised it, the Chancellor of the Exchequer gave an undertaking that he would reconsider the matter, and that Chancellor became Prime Minister in the course of the year. On the next occasion, which I mentioned earlier, the Chancellor of the Exchequer became the Lord Chancellor. I wonder what will happen to the present Chancellor of the Exchequer now that this Amendment has been raised, and whether he will be so sweetened by the mead or the mead argument that he will take some other office of profit under the Crown.
I hope that the Chancellor will reconsider the matter of the taxation of mead, regarding it as a branch of agriculture which is being unfairly taxed. At my county show there were a few bottles of mead which the producers wished to sell commercially, but they could not do so. I believe that the Financial Secretary is trying to find out how many liquor licences have been taken out. However, at present the producers cannot sell it commercially because the taxation is so high; all they can do is to produce it for exhibition at these shows where it must not be sold but is merely drunk by the exhibitors. I want that to be changed. I do not believe that England would be harmed at all if we had more mead drinkers in the country.
§ 6.45 p.m.
§ Mr. Douglas Marshall (Bodmin)I believe that the Financial Secretary will be the first to agree that this Amendment will neither steady nor stagger the cost of living index. The Committee will have noticed that the Minister of Agriculture is here and has taken an interest in this short Debate, no doubt fully realising the importance of the bee population in the countryside. The bee population plays a very important part in horticulture, and besides, from time to time it is necessary to see whether it is possible to build up certain light industries in different rural districts, and in this direction there may be a possibility.
On the Second Reading of the Finance Bill, the Chancellor stated that he had removed certain forms of taxation because such very small amounts were involved that they were not worth while. I should like to know what revenue this tax has brought in during the last few years or even during the last 10 years. I believe we should find that the amount is negligible. If that is the case and the amount plays no part at all in the Budget, surely that makes the case of my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton), because the taxation levied on this industry, as shown by the diminishing returns, has exterminated commercial practice. For those reasons, and primarily so that we may do what we can to raise the bee population, I trust that the Chancellor will approve the Amendment.
§ Mr. C. WilliamsMy reason for entering into the argument is that, unfortunately, the hon. and learned Member for St. Ives (Mr. Beechman) is prevented by illness from being here, and I felt that the Treasury and the Minister of Agriculture would wish to know that at present a very interesting development is going on down by Penzance, in my hon. and learned Friend's constituency, where an effort is being made to establish a mead factory. Those who are running that factory are setting up an enormous number of beehives over the area. They wish to develop the beekeeping industry. That is a point which ought to be considered. As my hon. Friend the Member for Bodmin (Mr. D. Marshall) said, there can be little revenue in this. If the Government would remove this tax in order to encourage bee- 274 keeping, they would be doing something equivalent to earning dollars, because it would encourage the production of food in this country.
Now may I ask the Minister of Agriculture to give us his help? Last Saturday I had the honour of entertaining a large and representative body of people who, on his behalf, are running in Cornwall a society whose purpose is to try to encourage cottage gardening industries and general garden produce. They had the most interesting sections in connection with honey and the keeping of bees, and I understand that the Ministry of Agriculture were responsible for that excellent work. Surely, if the right hon. Gentleman is expending money rightly in that way, it is only right that the Government should go a step further and encourage this industry which comes directly from honey production?
I know that this is only a small matter and that it may not be one which appeals to the lofty brain of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, most of us in this country, who often work with our hands and have to deal with people who work with their hands, realise that in an industry such as this one it is the humble people who start such an industry who eventually make it into a large one. Whether it is shipping, mining or whatever it is, it is the small people who begin an industry which is built up later by other people to provide great schemes of employment—I see that there is a conference going on between the Leader of the House, the Patronage Secretary and the Minister of Agriculture. If I may have the courtesy of the attention of the Leader of the House for one moment, I would ask him for once to do something for the small man. I would also ask him to support his Minister of Agriculture in what the right hon. Gentleman is doing for honey production in this country and encourage that Minister to say, "I appeal to the Chancellor." If the Chancellor would make such a concession, everyone with a garden in this country would say, "Thank goodness that at last the Government have done something for rural England."
§ Mr. Glenvil HallI must ask the Committee to reject this Amendment. [HON. MEMBERS: "Shame."] There is no reason why we should give this suggested prefer- 275 ence to mead over ordinary British wines. The proposal of my right hon. and learned Friend in the Clause is that the Excise Duties should be dropped from 22s. 6d. to 10s. 6d., which is a reduction of 12s. a gallon. That is a considerable reduction and, of itself, should help this infant industry which has been referred to with such eloquence by three hon. Members opposite this afternoon.
The hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Mr. Turton) suggested that it was one way of helping the bee-keeper. That may be so, but the honey produced by bees can be used for purposes other than the making of mead, and there is an excellent market for all the honey which bee-keepers can produce. Therefore, on that ground there is no reason why we should give a special preference to this firm—Mead Makers, Limited—in order that the honey which bee-keepers are producing should be used properly. It is my information that the honey will be put to a good use as honey—possibly in the minds of many to a much better use—rather than that it should be made into a drink, either as mead or as sack or, as what I understand they propose to make also, mead-brandy.
§ Mr. TurtonWill the right hon. Gentleman make it clear that this Amendment was put down at the request of the bee-keepers' association of Yorkshire? It has nothing to do with a firm.
§ Mr. Glenvil HallThat may well be, and nothing I have said would deny that fact which I and others heard the hon. Gentleman mention. I am only saying that there is at present, and so far as I know always will be, an outlet for the honey which is produced by the bees of the bee-keepers in the area represented by the hon. Gentleman. I agree that the loss of revenue is infinitesimal. At present little is produced. The amount actually manufactured by this firm is very small indeed. That being so, and as there is a use for the ingredients which they use, and as they are now getting in this Budget a reduction of 12s. a gallon, that in itself should be sufficient for them, and I ask the Committee to reject the Amendment.
§ Mr. C. WilliamsBefore the right hon. Gentleman sits down, will he say to what 276 firm he keeps referring? Where is it? Is it in the North Country? I think the interest is wider than one firm.
§ Mr. Glenvil HallI speak subject to correction, but my information is that there is one firm in Cornwall which is beginning to make mead of the type referred to, and that at the moment its output is extremely small.
§ Mr. WilliamsIn other words, that firm is new and struggling. It is being helped in one way, but it is being attacked by the Chancellor as he so often attacks small people.
§ Mr. Baldwin (Leominster)I regret that the Financial Secretary is not more forthcoming with regard to this Amendment. When I saw the Chancellor discussing the matter with the Minister of Agriculture, I felt there was some hope that he would entertain the Amendment. Bee-keeping is much neglected in this country, and the Minister of Agriculture might well do everything he can to see that encouragement is given to cottage bee-keepers. If the cottagers would keep bees, they would have the whole range of the countryside from which to gather their harvest and for which they would pay no rent. In a small thing like this, it would assist if they were encouraged in making mead.
With regard to what the Financial Secretary said about all the honey available being saleable in the form of honey, I once tried to make some mead, and I think I am right in saying that much of the honey which goes to its making is the unsealed honey which is not sufficiently ripened to be kept for the season. I hope, therefore, that the Chancellor will think again and will give some small concession in order to help a deserving industry.
§ Mr. Peter Thorneycroft (Monmouth)Up to the present we have not had a satisfactory answer to the rather powerful arguments advanced from this side of the Committee. First, we ought to know what is the amount involved. I understood from the Financial Secretary that the amount involved is infinitesimal. Before the Government ask for this burden to be continued on this particular section of the community——
§ Mr. Glenvil Hall rose——
277§ 7.0 p.m.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftI have several other questions to ask yet—we ought to know what is the total amount involved. The next thing the right hon. Gentleman said was that only one small firm is engaged in the production of mead. That may be so, but why? Simply because this duty is placed upon the mead. I have no doubt that if my hon. Friend's suggestion were adopted, much more mead would be produced. It is true that many people prefer to eat honey as honey—I hope I do not incur the wrath of my hon. Friends by saying I should prefer to eat honey rather than to drink mead—but that does not apply to everybody. Beekeepers are entitled to make what products they can and to try to popularise them.
§ Mr. Glenvil HallThere is nothing to stop them.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftOf course, there is something to stop them. Whatever else we may disagree about it, it is common ground that the duty has in effect, for all practical purposes, killed the consumption of mead.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Stafford Cripps)There never was any.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftOf all the remarks that the right hon. and learned Gentleman has made, to say that nobody in this country ever drank mead is the most monstrous distortion of all.
§ Sir S. CrippsWhat I said was that the duty could not have killed it because at the time when the duty was imposed nobody drank it.
§ Mr. ThorneycroftTo say that there was never any consumption of mead in Britain indicates an absence of that study of the history of the British people which I commend to the right hon. and learned Gentleman.
I ask the Financial Secretary—who, after all, is trying to reply to the points which have been made—to tell us, before we pass to a Division or adopt whatever other course my hon. Friend advises, precisely what is the total amount involved. If it is infinitesimal, then for Heaven's sake do not let us kill this industry, but rather allow the people to produce the mead.
§ Mr. D. MarshallAs the Financial Secretary does not appear to be replying, 278 I should like to put one further point to him. It is rather unlikely, one would assume, that during the Committee stage of the Bill the Chancellor will be over-reasonable on many of the matters placed before him. The Financial Secretary, however, has admitted that the amount of taxes collected in this industry is, to use his own word, "infinitesimal." In those circumstances, in order to try to prosper a light industry, is it not possible for the Financial Secretary to consult with the Chancellor at this very moment and to say that he will reconsider this matter between now and Report stage? That would be at least a reasonable way of treating the Amendment.
§ Mr. TurtonBefore the Financial Secretary replies, there is only one point I wish to make. The argument of the Government is that only one firm has taken out the five-guinea licence and is producing mead commercially. The evidence I put before the Committee is that the county bee-keepers' associations have asked that this duty shall be taken off so that they can all produce mead commercially. I confirm what was said by my hon. Friend the Member for Leominster (Mr. Baldwin) that honey used for mead is honey which is not saleable in other forms. In addition, some 10 years ago Women's Institutes throughout the country were making mead and asking me to raise this matter in the House of Commons so that they could be enabled to sell it commercially. That is the evidence I put before the Committee. I should have thought that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would not have been quite so careless of rural interests as he has shown himself to be this afternoon in not accepting the Amendment, and I very much regret his attitude.
§ Mr. C. WilliamsThe Chancellor of the Exchequer must give an answer to this matter. The Financial Secretary tried to give it just now. I very much doubt whether the amount of duty comes to £100 or even anywhere near that figure. If the Financial Secretary knows the amount, I will give way to him, but he shakes his head one way or another or up and down, and does not seem to know. This is an absolute scandal, especially when Government money is being paid, very rightly, in developing bee-keeping. There is no doubt whatever that there is a demand for honey. The Government 279 are being very hard to the industry and we cannot expect, on the one hand, people to encourage the Minister of Agriculture in his righteous desire to stimulate rural production when, on the other hand, the Chancellor absolutely refuses to make a small concession which I do not think anyone could say amounts to £100.
It is sheer, deliberate—I was about to say spite, but we can hardly accuse the Chancellor, who is always telling us how holy he is, of being spiteful—it is sheer lack of consideration from the Chancellor on a matter which certainly should be pressed to a Division. I hope that we shall go into the Division Lobby. If the Minister of Agriculture is honest, he is bound to come, as I know he will, into the Opposition Lobby in support of the Amendment and against the Government, who are trying in an underhand way to destroy their own work.
§ Mr. Osbert Peake (Leeds, North)During the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouth (Mr. P. Thorneycroft) the Financial Secretary kept nodding his head when my hon. Friend said that the Committee ought to know what was the yield of this duty. The right hon. Gentleman actually rose to his feet intending to intervene and give this vital piece of information to the Committee. Apparently he now has cold feet and has thought better of it or, possibly, has been restrained by his right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor. I implore the right hon. Gentleman, who is the soul of courtesy in our Debates, to give this vital piece of information to the Committee to enable it to come to a reasonable decision upon its attitude to the Amendment.
§ Question put, "That those words be there inserted."
§ The Committee divided: Ayes, 141; Noes, 285.
283| Division No. 166.] | AYES | [7.10 p.m. |
| Agnew, Cmdr. P. G. | Galbraith, T. G. D. (Hillhead) | Morrison, Rt. Hon. W. S. (Cirencester) |
| Anderson, Rt. Hn. Sir J. (Scot. Univ.) | Gammans, L. D. | Mott-Radclyffe, C. E. |
| Assheton, Rt. Hon. R. | Gridley, Sir A. | Noble, Comdr. A. H. P. |
| Astor, Hon. M. | Grimston, R. V. | Odey, G. W. |
| Baldwin, A. E. | Harris, F. W. (Croydon, N.) | O'Neill, Rt. Hon. Sir H. |
| Birch, Nigel | Harris, H. Wilson (Cambridge Univ.) | Peake, Rt. Hon. O. |
| Boles, Lt.-Col. D. C. (Wells) | Harvey, Air-Comdre, A. V. | Peto, Brig. C. H. M. |
| Boothby, R. | Haughton, Colonel S. G. (Antrim) | Pickthorn, K. |
| Bower, N. | Head, Brig. A. H. | Poole, O. B. S. (Oswestry) |
| Boyd-Carpenter, J. A. | Hinchingbrooke, Viscount | Price-White, Lt.-Col. D. |
| Bracken, Rt. Hon. Brendan | Hogg, Hon. Q. | Raikes, H. V. |
| Braithwaite, Lt.-Comdr. J. G. | Hollis, M. C. | Rayner, Brig. R. |
| Bromley-Davenport, Lt.-Col. W. | Hope, Lord J. | Reed, Sir S. (Aylesbury) |
| Brown, W. J. (Rugby) | Howard, Hon. A. | Renton, D. |
| Buchan-Hepburn, P. G. T. | Hudson, Rt. Hon. R. S. (Southport) | Roberts, H. (Handsworth) |
| Butcher, H. W. | Hulbert, Wing-Cdr. N. J. | Robinson, Roland (Blackpool, S.) |
| Butler, Rt. Hn. R. A. (S'ffr'n W'ld'n) | Hutchison, Lt.-Cdr. Clark (Edin'gh, W.) | Ropner, Col. L. |
| Challen, C. | Hutchison, Col. J. R. (Glasgow, C.) | Ross, Sir R. D. (Londonderry) |
| Channon, H. | Jeffreys, General Sir G. | Sanderson, Sir F. |
| Churchill, Rt. Hon. W. S. | Jennings, R. | Scott, Lord W. |
| Clarke, Col. R. S. | Keeling, E. H. | Shepherd, W. S. (Bucklow) |
| Clifton-Brown, Lt.-Col. G. | Kendall, W. D. | Smiles, Lt.-Col. Sir W. |
| Conant, Maj. R. J. E. | Lambert, Hon. G. | Smithers, Sir W. |
| Cooper-Key, E. M. | Lancaster, Col. C. G. | Spearman, A. C. M. |
| Corbett, Lieut.-Col. U. (Ludlow) | Lennox-Boyd, A. T. | Stanley, Rt. Hon. O. |
| Crookshank, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. F. C. | Lindsay, M. (Solihull) | Stewart, J. Henderson (Fife, E.) |
| Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E. | Linstead, H. N. | Stuart, Rt. Hon. J. (Moray) |
| Crowder, Capt, John E. | Lipson, D. L. | Sutcliffe, H. |
| Cuthbert, W. N. | Lloyd, Selwyn (Wirral) | Taylor, Vice-Adm. E. A. (P'dd't'n, S.) |
| De la Bère, R. | Low, A. R. W. | Teeling, William |
| Dodds-Parker, A. D. | Lucas-Tooth, Sir H. | Thomas, Ivor (Keighley) |
| Downer, P. W. | Lyttelton, Rt. Hon. O. | Thomas, J. P. L. (Hereford) |
| Dower, Col A. V. G. (Penrith) | McCorquodale, Rt. Hon. M. S. | Thorneycroft, G. E. P. (Monmouth) |
| Drayson, G. B. | Mackeson, Brig. H. R. | Thornton-Kemsley, C. N. |
| Drewe, C. | McKie, J. H. (Galloway) | Touche, G. C. |
| Duthie, W. S. | Maclay, Hon. J. S. | Turton, R. H. |
| Eccles, D. M. | Maclean, F. H. R. (Lancaster) | Wakefield, Sir W. W. |
| Eden, Rt. Hon. A. | MacLeod, J. | Walker-Smith, D. |
| Elliot, Lieut.-Col. Rt. Hon. Walter | Macmillan, Rt. Hon. Harold (Bromley) | White, Sir D. (Fareham) |
| Erroll, F. J. | Macpherson, N. (Dumfries) | White, J. B. (Canterbury) |
| Fleming, Sqn.-Ldr. E. L. | Maitland, Comdr. J. W. | Williams, C. (Torquay) |
| Fletcher, W. (Bury) | Marples, A. E. | Williams, Gerald (Tonbridge) |
| Foster, J. G. (Northwich) | Marshall, D. (Bodmin) | Winterton, Rt. Hon. Earl |
| Fox, Sir G. | Marshall, S. H. (Sutton) | York, C. |
| Fraser, H. C. P. (Stone) | Mellor, Sir J. | Young, Sir A. S. L. (Partick) |
| Fyfe, Rt. Hon. Sir D. P. M. | Molson, A. H. E. | |
| Gage, C. | Morris, Hopkin (Carmarthen) | TELLERS FOR THE AYES: |
| Galbraith, Cmdr. T. D. (Pollok) | Morris-Jones, Sir H. | Colonel Wheatley and |
| Mr. Wingfield Digby. | ||
| NOES | ||
| Acland, Sir Richard | Fletcher, E. G. M. (Islington, E.) | Manning, C. (Camberwell, N.) |
| Adams, Richard (Balham) | Follick, M. | Marquand, Rt. Hon. H. A. |
| Albu, A. H. | Foot, M. M. | Mathers, Rt. Hon. George |
| Allen, A. C. (Bosworth) | Forman, J. C. | Mellish, R. J. |
| Alpass, J. H. | Gallacher, W. | Messer, F. |
| Anderson, A. (Motherwell) | Ganley, Mrs. C. S. | Middleton, Mrs. L. |
| Attewell, H. C. | George, Lady M. Lloyd (Anglesey) | Millington, Wing-Comdr. E. R. |
| Austin, H. Lewis | Gibbins, J. | Mitchison, G. R. |
| Awbery, S. S. | Gilzean, A. | Moody, A. S. |
| Ayles, W. H. | Glanville, J. E. (Consett) | Morley, R. |
| Ayrton Gould, Mrs. B. | Gooch, E. G. | Morris, Lt.-Col. H. (Sheffield, C.) |
| Bacon, Miss A. | Gordon-Walker, P. C. | Morris, P. (Swansea, W.) |
| Balfour, A. | Granville, E. (Eye) | Morrison, Rt. Hon. H. (Lewisham, E.) |
| Barstow, P. G. | Grierson, E. | Mort, D. L. |
| Barton, C. | Griffiths, D. (Rother Valley) | Murray, J. D. |
| Battley, J. R. | Griffiths, W. D. (Moss Side) | Nally, W. |
| Bechervaise, A. E. | Gruffydd, Prof. W. J. | Naylor, T. E. |
| Benson, G. | Gunter, R. J. | Neal, H. (Claycross) |
| Berry, H. | Hale, Leslie | Nichol, Mrs. M. E. (Bradford, N.) |
| Beswick, F. | Hall, Rt. Hon. Glenvil | Noel-Baker, Capt. F. E. (Brentford) |
| Bevan, Rt. Hon. A. (Ebbw Vale) | Hamilton, Lieut.-Col. R. | Oldfield, W. H. |
| Bing, G. H. C. | Hardy, E. A. | Oliver, G. H. |
| Binns, J. | Harrison, J. | Orbach, M. |
| Blackburn, A. R. | Hastings, Dr. Somerville. | Paget, R. T. |
| Blenkinsop, A. | Haworth, J. | Paling, Rt. Hon. Wilfred (Wentworth) |
| Blyton, W. R. | Henderson, Rt. Hn. A. (Kingswinford) | Paling,, Will T. (Dewsbury) |
| Boardman, H. | Herbison, Miss M. | Palmer, A. M. F. |
| Bottomley, A. G. | Holman, P. | Pargiter, G. A. |
| Bowden, Fig. Offr. H. W. | Holmes, H. E. (Hemsworth) | Parkin, B. T. |
| Bowen, R. | Horabin, T. L. | Paton, Mrs. F. (Rushcliffe) |
| Braddock, Mrs. E. M. (L'pl, Exch'ge) | Houghton, A. L. N. D. (Sowerby) | Paton, J. (Norwich) |
| Braddock, T. (Mitcham) | Hoy, J. | Pearson, A. |
| Bramall, E. A. | Hubbard, T. | Peart, T. F. |
| Brook, D. (Halifax) | Hudson, J. H. (Ealing, W.) | Piratin, P. |
| Brooks, T. J. (Rothwell) | Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.) | Poole, Cecil (Lichfield) |
| Broughton, Dr. A. D. D. | Hughes, H. D. (W'lverh'pton, W.) | Popplewell, E. |
| Brown, T. J. (Ince) | Hutchinson, H. L. (Rusholme) | Porter, E. (Warrington) |
| Bruce, Maj. D. W. T. | Hynd, H. (Hackney, C.) | Porter, G. (Leeds) |
| Burden, T. W. | Hynd, J. B. (Attercliffe) | Price, M. Philips |
| Burke, W. A. | Irvine, A. J. (Liverpool) | Proctor, W. T. |
| Carmichael, James | Irving, W. J. (Tollenham, N.) | Pursey, Comdr. H. |
| Castle, Mrs. B. A. | Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A. | Ranger, J. |
| Champion, A. J. | Janner, B. | Rankin, J. |
| Chetwynd, G. R. | Jay, D. P. T. | Rees-Williams, D. R. |
| Cluse, W. S. | Jeger, G. (Winchester) | Reeves, J. |
| Cobb, F. A. | Jones, Rt. Hon. A. C. (Shipley) | Reid, T. (Swindon) |
| Cocks, F. S. | Jones, D. T. (Hartlepool) | Rhodes, H. |
| Coldrick, W. | Keenan, W. | Richards, R. |
| Collick, P. | Kenyon, C. | Ridealgh, Mrs. M. |
| Collindridge, F. | Key, Rt. Hon. C. W. | Robens, A. |
| Collins, V. J. | Kinghorn, Sqn.-Ldr. E. | Roberts, Goronwy (Caernarvonshire) |
| Colman, Miss G. M. | Kinley, J. | Robertson, J. J. (Berwick) |
| Cook, T. F. | Kirby, B. V. | Robinson, Kenneth (St. Pancras, N.) |
| Cooper, G. | Kirkwood, Rt. Hon. D. | Rogers, G. H. R. |
| Corlett, Dr. J. | Lang, G. | Ross, William (Kilmarnock) |
| Cove, W. G. | Lavers, S. | Royle, C. |
| Cripps Rt. Hon. Sir S. | Lee, F. (Hulme) | Scott-Elliot, W. |
| Crossman, R. H. S. | Lee, Miss J. (Cannock) | Segal, Dr. S. |
| Cullen, Mrs. | Leonard, W. | Shackleton, E. A. A. |
| Daggar, G. | Leslie, J. R. | Sharp, Granville |
| Daines, P. | Levy, B. W. | Shinwell, Rt. Hon. E. |
| Dalton, Rt. Hon. H. | Lewis, A. W. J. (Upton) | Shurmer, P. |
| Davies, Edward (Burslem) | Lewis, J. (Bolton) | Silkin, Rt. Hon. L. |
| Davies, Ernest (Enfield) | Lewis, T. (Southampton) | Silverman, S. S. (Nelson) |
| Davies, Harold (Leek) | Lindgren, G. S. | Simmons, C. J. |
| Davies, Haydn (St. Pancras, S. W.) | Lipton, Lt.-Col. M. | Skeffington, A. M. |
| Davies, R. J. (Westhoughton) | Logan, D. G. | Skinnard, F. W. |
| Davies, S. O. (Merthyr) | Longden, F. | Smith, C. (Colchester) |
| Deer, G. | Lyne, A. W. | Smith, Ellis (Stoke) |
| Delargy, H. J. | McAdam, W. | Smith, H. N. (Nottingham, S.) |
| Dobbie, W. | McAllister, G. | Smith, S. H. (Hull, S. W.) |
| Dodds, N. N. | McEntee, V. La. T. | Solley, L. J. |
| Driberg, T. E. N. | McGhee, H. G. | Sorensen, R. W. |
| Dugdale, J. (W. Bromwich) | McGovern, J. | Soskice, Rt. Hon. Sir Frank |
| Dye, S. | McKay, J. (Wallsend) | Sparks, J. A. |
| Edwards, W. J. (Whitechapel) | McKinlay, A. S. | Steele, T. |
| Evans, Albert (Islington, W.) | Maclean, N. (Govan) | Stokes, R. R. |
| Evans, E. (Lowestoft) | McLeavy, F. | Stubbs, A. E. |
| Evans, John (Ogmore) | MacPherson, Malcolm (Stirling) | Sylvester, G. O. |
| Evans, S. N. (Wednesbury) | Mainwaring, W. H. | Symonds, A. L. |
| Fairhurst, F. | Mallalieu, E. L. (Brigg) | Taylor, H. B. (Mansfield) |
| Farthing, W. J. | Mallalieu, J. P. W. (Huddersfield) | Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth) |
| Fernyhough, E. | Mann, Mrs. J. | Taylor, Dr. S. (Barnet) |
| Thomas, D. E. (Aberdare) | Wallace, H. W. (Walthamstow, E.) | Willey, O. G. (Cleveland) |
| Thomas, George (Cardiff) | Warbey, W. N. | Williams, D. J. (Neath) |
| Thomas, I. O. (Wrekin[...]) | Webb, M. (Bradford, C.) | Williams, J. L. (Kelvingrove) |
| Thurtle, Ernest | Weitzman, D. | Williams, Ronald (Wigan) |
| Timmons, J. | Wells, P. L. (Faversham) | Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Den Valtey) |
| Titterington, M. F. | Wells, W. T. (Walsall) | Willis, E. |
| Tolley, L. | Wheatley, Rt. Hon. John (Edin'gh, E.) | Wills, Mrs. E. A. |
| Turner-Samuels, M. | White, H. (Derbyshire, N. E.) | Wyatt, W. |
| Ungoed-Thomas, L. | Whiteley, Rt. Hon. W. | Young, Sir R. (Newton) |
| Vernon, Maj. W. F. | Wigg, George | |
| Viant, S. P. | Wilkes, L. | TELLERS FOR THE NOES: |
| Wadsworth, G. | Wilkins, W. A. | Mr. Joseph Henderson and |
| Wallace, G. D. (Chislehurst) | Willey, F. T. (Sunderland) | Mr. Hannan. |
Question put, and agreed to.
§ Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.