§ Mr. RAMSDENasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the Budget proposal to raise the price of beer 1d. per pint, and in view of the general complaint throughout the country as to the disparity of English beer as compared with Irish beer, he will raise the present gravity of English beer and give the working man value for his money?
§ Sir W. MITCHELL-THOMSONI have been asked to reply. The Government are not prepared at the present time to sanction a further increase in the average gravity of beer brewed in Great Britain. The price of beer is regulated by its gravity, and if the permitted average gravity were increased in Great Britain, it does not follow that the consumer would receive better value for his money.