§ 49. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the total number of letters he has received from Members of Parliament and others protesting against the Entertainments Duty on speedway racing.
§ Mr. GaitskellSince my Budget statement, about 180 letters have been addressed to me or to my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary on the matter, and of these 57 were from hon. Members of this House.
§ Mr. A. LewisIs the Chancellor aware of the fact that many hon. Members have received letters of protest, which they have not yet sent on to him, because they are hoping that some change is to be made on this particular issue? Can he give them an assurance that will save both his time and the time of hon. Members in sending on these protests to him?
§ Mr. GaitskellI have no inside information about the contents of hon. Members' postbags before they send them on to me.
§ 50. Mr. A. Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date he received a deputation from the Speedway 28 Control Board concerning the question of the re-classification of speedway entertainments for Entertainments Duty purposes; and what was his reply.
§ Mr. GaitskellA deputation representing the Speedway Control Board was seen by the Financial Secretary on 25th January. The Financial Secretary assured the deputation that the views they put forward would be taken into account in the preparation of the Budget.
§ Sir Herbert WilliamsWere they?
§ 51. Wing Commander Bullusasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what taxes were paid for speedway racing for the years 1948–49, 1949–50 and 1950–51. respectively.
§ Mr. GaitskellI would refer the hon. and gallant Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham, North (Mr. A. Lewis) on 3rd May.
§ Wing Commander BullusDoes not the Chancellor realise that a number of tracks are closing down because of this discriminatory taxation? Would he look at it again?
§ Mr. GaitskellI rather fancy that we shall be looking at it again next week.