Tea is a subject which never fails to produce an
animated discussion. On Tuesday evening Labour members were inclined to be resentful of the Chancellor's statement last week that the additional duty would be paid in the humblest homes with willingness and pride as their contribution towards rearmament. Mrs. Hardie delivered an interesting speech on the theme that this new impost was merely one of the great range of food-taxes imposed by the present Government. She calculated that out of every spent by the housewife on provisions five shillings went in taxes. Mr. Alexander reckoned that the annual receipts from taxation on food would, with the new duty, amount to L42,5oo,000. It was generally agreed that Sir John Simon has never been heard to better advantage than in his reply to this debate. He did not seek to deny that his proposals would affect the poorest households. But he argued that he had done his very best to make their contribution a small one. The money which he had to find was needed for the defence of every roof in the country and there was no method of marking the doorposts so that the Angel of Death might not strike at -any particular home.
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