§ 28. Mr. Ellisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will seek power to place meters on one-armed bandits which would record the amount inserted and the return payments to the users, in order that the actual profits accruing to the 294 owners of such machines could be taxed accordingly.
§ Mr. MacDermotNo, Sir.
§ Mr. EllisDoes not my hon. and learned Friend agree that it is time that we knew something about what was happening in this field? There are widely fluctuating reports of the amount of profit, ranging from single £s to many hundreds of £s per week from these machines. We should know what is going on as regards the operation of these machines.
§ Mr. MacDermotMy hon. Friend's proposal would be very expensive both in terms of equipment and of manpower, and I doubt whether it would work very satisfactorily.