§ Mr. HANNONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his attention has been called to the serious condition of the workpeople on the Clyde engaged in the manufacture of sugar-milling machinery; whether he is aware that contracts which would result in an expenditure of £200,000 in wages in the Glasgow area cannot be completed in view of the uncertainty of the future policy of His Majesty's Government in relation to the stabilisation of the existing preference on sugar produced and manufactured in the Dominions and Dependencies of the Crown; and whether, in view of these considerations, he will give an assurance that the preference now given to sugar produced within the Empire will be continued for a period of not less than 10 years?
§ Mr. SNOWDENAs regards the first part of the question, from the information that I have been able to obtain so far it appears that with one or two exceptions firms in the Glasgow area specialising in sugar-milling machinery are doing a normal trade; some indeed are working a night shift. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative. I am not in a position to make any statement as to the last part of the question.