Mr William McKeag: I am afraid the Committee will not be very much impressed by the speech of the Financial Secretary. The speeches we have heard are sufficient in themselves to demonstrate the danger and complexity of these Agreements. I have taken the opportunity of comparing the Canadian Agreement with the others, and I find, so far as Canada is concerned, that while wheat in grain, copper, zinc and lead are...
Mr William McKeag: In supporting this Amendment, I wish to speak particularly on cod liver oil. It has an interest for me because, had it not been for the fact that I was well dosed with it in my youth, my presence might not have been inflicted on the House to-night. That might be regarded as sufficient reason by the supporters of the Government why the Amendment should be defeated. Be that as it may, the...
Mr William McKeag: Is the hon. Member attempting to defend this tax on the desirability of bolstering up the industry in this country or the industry in Newfoundland?
Mr William McKeag: I desire to reinforce what has already been said by other speakers as to the necessity of special attention being given to the depressed areas. I represent a division of Durham, one of the most depressed areas in the whole of the United Kingdom. The position there, as I have endeavoured to emphasise on a number of occasions in this House, is really tragic. One cannot pick up a newspaper...
Mr William McKeag: 26. asked the Secretary for Mines if he can give any estimate of the number of miners for whom work would be found if colloidal fuel, instead of oil only, were used by British naval vessels?
Mr William McKeag: 27. asked the Secretary for Mines if he will, at an early date, make a statement as to the results of research in regard to the low-temperature carbonisation and hydrogenation processes of dealing with coal?
Mr William McKeag: 5. asked the Minister of Labour if he has considered the representations made to him by the Durham County Council as to the additional burden placed upon the ratepayers in consequence of large numbers of men being disallowed unemployment insurance benefit; and what action he proposes to take in view of the fact that Durham is already a necessitous area?
Mr William McKeag: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the cost of relief of able-bodied unemployed in the county of Durham has increased by an amount approaching £1,000 per week since November of last year; and, since Durham is a very necessitous area, and this can only serve to aggravate the depression, will he not consider some earlier relaxation of the regulations?
Mr William McKeag: 30. asked the Minister of Health if he will consider the advisability of introducing legislation to prevent local authorities from paying substantial retaining fees to retired officials in addition to pensions and allowances?
Mr William McKeag: Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Socialist majority of the Durham County Council has decided to pay to the county accountant, who recently retired, a retaining fee of £600 per annum, which, together with pension and allowances, makes a total annual payment to this retired official of £2,192, or nearly £19 per week more than—
Mr William McKeag: I support this Motion. Representing as I do a constituency in which there are many thousands of miners, my first inclination was to regard and accept this Bill as a kind of Hobson's choice. I felt that the majority of my miner constituents, wearied with the strife of the past year and worn out with the tremendous struggle to keep their heads above water during the depression of recent years,...
Mr William McKeag: Only a moment is needed for me to support this Amendment, in view of the very able, eloquent and convincing manner in which it was supported by the hon. Member for Consett (Mr. Dickie). I support this Amendment because I am satisfied, from the inquiries I have made and the information which I have been able to obtain from those intimately connected with the industry, that the export trade of...
Mr William McKeag: 42. asked the President of the Board of Trade if he has under consideration any proposals with the object of assisting local authorities in the county of Durham and other depressed areas in their efforts to attract new industries to their districts?
Mr William McKeag: Is the hon. Member aware that colliery after colliery is closing down in the County of Durham and that the plight of those districts is becoming increasingly desperate?
Mr William McKeag: Has the work of the industrial organisation to which my hon. Friend referred resulted in any benefit to those districts, up to date?
Mr William McKeag: Is the Minister aware that the operation of Part I of the Coal Mines Act in certain cases is stultifying the export trade?
Mr William McKeag: 26. asked the Minister of Labour on what grounds the 1,100 miners of Elemore Colliery, in the county of Durham, who recently received notices terminating their employment owing to trade depression, were refused unemployment benefit by the insurance officer?
Mr William McKeag: Can the right hon. Gentleman state whether there was the slightest question of disagreement or dispute at the time the men were given notice?
Mr William McKeag: 55. asked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury if any of the civil servants, numbering approximately 600, recently transferred to the Customs, Excise, and Inland Revenue Departments, were surplus to the requirements of the Departments in which they were previously serving?
Mr William McKeag: 12. asked the Home Secretary if, in view of the desirability of minimising the perils to young girls who leave the North of England for domestic service in London, numbering about 20,000 annually, he will consider if any steps can be taken to ensure that the agencies dealing with these girls are of genuine and bona fide character?