§ 2.50 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT LONGMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what policy they propose to take to encourage the sheepskin tanners, and especially those who are splitters, to increase their exports.]
§ THE PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, BOARD OF TRADE (LORD RHODES)My Lords, may I thank the noble Viscount for his courtesy in the matter of this Question and say that the sheepskin tanners will, I hope, benefit from the export rebate of 14 per cent. for these goods and from the other measures which the Government have announced to assist exporters generally.
§ VISCOUNT LONGMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his reply. Am I to understand, with regard to the export of animals on the foot, and skins and pelts, that the tanners will now have a chance of getting an allocation of those skins instead of having to import foreign skins of an inferior quality?
§ LORD RHODESMy Lords, I am afraid we cannot agree to restrict the export like that. I can understand that a free market in that raw material creates a problem for the tanners, but as a nation we live very largely by processing raw materials which we import from others, and it would be against our wider interests to adopt measures which would encourage countries which produce good raw materials to withhold them from the world's markets.
§ VISCOUNT LONGThen, my Lords, as I understand the noble Lord, the Government's policy cannot help these tanners in any way.
§ LORD RHODESMy Lords, we are helping in the export of the skins by the export rebate.
§ VISCOUNT ADDISONMy Lords, can the noble Lord enlighten me on the expression "splitter"?
§ LORD RHODESMy Lords, a "splitter", so I understand, is the person who separates the flesh side of a sheepskin from the outside, which is called the "grain".