§ 2.44 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT BLEDISLOEMy Lords, I beg to ask the second Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper:
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are able to state what proportion of the cider consumed in this country is made here—in a factory or on the farms—and what proportion is of foreign origin; also, what proportion is "non-alcoholic"; and whether the proposed Budget duty applies to all alike.]
LORD HAWKEMy Lords, I regret that information in the precise form for which the noble Viscount asks is not available. Commercial production of new cider, including cider used for the production of "non-alcoholic" cider, in 1955 is estimated at 13 million gallons. Imports totalled about 1 million gallons, and imported cider is normally used for blending with home-produced supplies.
The Answer to the last part of the noble Viscount's Question is that the proposed duty does not apply to all alike: it does not affect cider or perry of a strength of less than 15 degrees of proof, nor cider or perry of greater strength if it is made by a simple process of fermentation of natural apple or pear juice and contain no alcohol derived from other materials.
§ VISCOUNT BLEDISLOEMy Lords, I should like to ask the noble Lord and the Department he represents whether they are aware that thirty-three years ago, when I took a deputation of West Country farmers to see the then Chancellor of the Exchequer with a view to lifting this particular duty, it transpired that the cost of collecting the duty far exceeded the yield of the duty; and whether that is a consideration which the Chancellor of the Exchequer has in mind in this connection to-day.
LORD HAWKEMy Lords, my noble friend has only cited yet another of the many debts which the people of this country owe to him. As regards the question of the cost of collection, this is not a duty designed to collect money: it is designed to safeguard the existing revenue on British wines.