§ 4. Mr. E. Johnsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that most European countries no longer insist on a visitor, bringing a motor car into their country for a visit, being in possession of a Customs carnet for their car; and if, as a result of his examination of the question of simplifying the system, he will now grant similar facilities to visitors to the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. SimonNo, Sir. We must continue to require these documents for the reasons given by my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Mr. Powell) on 12th December in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Cheadle (Mr. Shepherd).
§ Mr. JohnsonIn view of the great importance of the tourist trade as an earner of foreign exchange, does my hon. and learned Friend not agree that everything should be done to remove these vexatious restrictions? Why is it impossible for us to do what other countries can do quite easily?
§ Mr. SimonI entirely agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of the tourist industry, but we have a large home industry to protect and a large revenue at stake.
§ Mr. Ernest DaviesCannot the Financial Secretary look at this again? Is he aware that the number of cars that will be sold on this market which are imported from abroad under tourist licences will be very small indeed and could not possibly be a danger to the home trade, and, furthermore, that this is a definite handicap to our tourist industry? Is he not aware that there is considerable dissatisfaction at the long delays which occur at Dover when tourists bring in their cars? If the carnet were abolished, would this not facilitate the entry of these cars?
§ Mr. SimonI have recently looked into this matter personally. The Customs authorities have recently reduced the scale of examination of visitors' cars at the ports, and I hope that this will help in the matters to which the hon. Member has referred.