Orders of the Day — Finance Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 20 May 1953.

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Photo of Mr Barnett Janner Mr Barnett Janner , Leicester North West 12:00, 20 May 1953

The hon. Gentleman will see when we come to vote on the Amendment. I should like to quote a statement made by one of the promoters from Birmingham. He says: I promoted at Redditch, Worcestershire, from 14th December, 1951, to 7th March, 1952. The capacity of the hall was 995. I never showed more than £25 profit and had I opened out in October, 1952, with the present rate of tax it would have been absolutely impossible to pay expenses. The rent was £15 per show; the hire of the chairs £20 per show, the boxers £110 to £120. The new tax would have taken another extra £23 to £28. My Nuneaton venture which I commenced on 12th September, 1952, was promising, small hall capacity, 825 people for a full house, showed £35 profit after paying £42 tax. My second show on 6th and 7th October, with tax applying, on which I paid £45 in tax for a 75 per cent. house, resulting in a loss of £7. Making allowances for fog, rain, etc., a 75 per cent. house when you are promoting regular fortnightly shows is quite satisfactory to make a profit in ordinary circumstances. but not with this extra burden of the entertainment tax. Incidentally, I was making this my means of livelihood, owing to two serious operations, but I have now had to take a job that does show me a living wage, and will continue to do so until this heavy burden is removed. There are 80 boys around here who would have been kept busy in the boxing world at my shows. He finishes up by saying that there are now only 24 instead of 72 of these boys engaged. [HON. MEMBERS: "Hear, hear."] While it may be cause for congratulation to my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Mr. Wigg), it is not a cause of congratulation to those who are engaged in the sport of boxing.

Let me give one other illustration. This comes from Cambridgeshire: We were only a small promotion, catering for approximately 1,200 people. Previous to the increase, we were able to continue promotions with a small profit. When the increased tax came into operation, we immediately began to show serious losses, which gradually increased as the season wore on, so that it is making it impossible for us to carry on. In five tournaments, the average approximate loss was £42 per tournament, and we considered it better to keep our money in our pockets than to work and fill the coffers of the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the expense of emptying our own. Those are two illustrations of cases which are representative of the experience of 50 per cent. of those promoters who have closed down already. It is anticipated that, if this duty continues— and I am quite serious about this, because the Minister has the figures before him and I do not think he can deny them—the sport will be killed, and I therefore hope that the Chancellor will do something in the matter. The present position is that already at this stage in May, when the British Boxing Board of Control has usually received a large number of applications for permission to use certain halls for the further season, which applications are considered by them in June, the Southern Area Council, for example, has not received a single application.

That is the position of this very important sport at the present time, and I say to the Chancellor that he must consider whether he is going to continue this duty as it is at present, or whether, before the Report stage, he will reduce it to a considerable extent. If he leaves it as it is at present, he will deal almost a death blow to this sport. If he really wants to do that, then he is going the right way about it, but, if not, I appeal to him as a lover of this sport himself—as I believe he is—to see that something is done and done rapidly to remedy the position. There is no time to lose because otherwise the arrangements for the coming season will be entirely destroyed.

I hope that the hon. Gentleman and all the other people who are seriously considering this sport will look at it from the point of view I have put forward, and will do everything they can to encourage the Chancellor to change his mind in regard to this tax and to do what he said he would do concerning the removal of this tax from any sport where he thought this was necessary for its continuance.