Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Secretary of State for War when he anticipates that all soldiers will be supplied with the regulation two pairs of Army boots?
Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Minister of Agriculture whether he will take steps to suspend the Ground Game Act for the period of the war as under the present restriction farmers cannot keep the rabbit pest down effectively with the result that many tons of corn and other crops which could be saved for human consumption are destroyed?
Mr Thomas Horabin: None of us wants rationing for rationing's sake, but whether we have it or not depends upon considerations other than those to which the Minister has referred in detail. I have considerable sympathy with the Minister, because in my view he has at the present moment one of the most responsible, if not the most responsible, posts in the Government. Indeed, it may be said that if he fails to do...
Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Prime Minister who is now the acting head of the Treasury and the Civil Service, in view of the fact that Sir Horace Wilson has been seconded for services outside that Department?
Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Home Secretary whether he is aware that under the cover of darkness, the British Union of Fascists are painting on walls in various parts of London the slogan "Stop the War"; that meetings have been held by the same organisation in various quarters of London protesting against the war and suggesting that anyone who assisted the nation in the prosecution of the war is serving no...
Mr Thomas Horabin: I will detain the House, I hope, for only a few moments on what I feel to be certain anomalies and difficulties created by the present scheme of a flat rate for the insurance of commodities. Many people in this country at the present moment feel that the relative degree of war risks for stocks of different types of merchandise in this country are related to that of fire risks in peace time,...
Mr Thomas Horabin: The position is that you may have to charge a much higher premium, but there would still be relations between the risks of these different types of commodities. If the premium for commodity insurance had been calculated as multiples of the fire rate, the President of the Board of Trade would not have been faced with commodities less liable to damage being withdrawn from the scheme. I think...
Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Minister of Health whether he will make a statement with regard to the effective provision of camping facilities made to date under the Camps Act, 1939?
Mr Thomas Horabin: I support the Amendment, because it seems to me to be a retrograde step to reduce the children's allowance. There was a definite movement, sponsored by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Sparkbrook (Mr. Amery) and supported by Members of all parties, in favour of family allowances. I believe that that movement sprang from a growing realisation of the vital importance to the future of the...
Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Prime Minister whether he is in a position to make a further statement with regard to the proposed Parliamentary Committee on Colonial Affairs?
Mr Thomas Horabin: asked the Minister of Labour whether he can state, as on the last convenient date, how many domiciliary visits are paid by means-test investigators in the Southern area which involve journeys out and home of over 25, 50 and 100 miles?
Mr Thomas Horabin: I would much prefer not to have spoken in this House until I had completely absorbed its atmosphere. I have yet to learn the art of substituting the rapier of Parliamentary debate for the sledge-hammer of the hustings. For that reason, much as I would like to attempt to reply to the points made by the Prime Minister, I am too much of a novice to do so, and I am sure that the Committee will...