asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is now in a position to state his proposals for assisting potato growers in Scotland?

I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. and learned Member for East Fife (Mr. Millar) on the 17th December. I am not in a position to make any further statement at present.

Can the right hon. Gentleman say if he will be able to make a definite pronouncement after the Recess in regard to this very important question?

Have the Secretary of State for Scotland or his Department considered the question of using surplus potatoes for the purpose of producing potato spirit, as they do in Germany?

Cannot we have an answer from the right hon. Gentleman to my hon. and gallant Friend's question as to whether he is going to make a definite pronouncement after the Christmas Recess? It is an elementary question.

I have already replied to the question, that I will give an answer as quickly as I can.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether, having regard to the fact that 13 persons belonging to Vidlin, Shetland, who have enjoyed blind pensions for a number of years, have recently been deprived of them on the ground of not being so blind as to be unable to perform any work for which eyesight is essential, he is satisfied with the method under which these pensions were first awarded and with the manner in which they have been withdrawn; and if he proposes to make any change in the system of awarding blind pensions?

Until recently the Department of Health for Scotland were of opinion that the very heavy expense of sending fully qualified experts to Shetland was not necessary, and that blind pensions could safely be awarded on the advice of medical officers who were not specialists. The results of the visits by specialists to Shetland, and also to the Western Isles show that expert examination is necessary in certain cases. As regards the second part of the question, I am satisfied that every consideration was shown to the pensioners, and that the benefit of the doubt was awarded in borderline cases. As regards the last part, the Department are of opinion that, save in cases of total blindness, pension should not as a rule be awarded in future except on the advice of an eye expert, and I am consulting the other authorities involved with a view to arrangements being made towards this end.

Does the right hon. Gentleman understand what a serious thing it is to withdraw a blind pension that has been enjoyed for six or seven years, and will he take steps to see that in future blind pensions are awarded to people whose blindness prevents them from carrying on the ordinary affairs of life?

I am well aware of the seriousness of withdrawing a pension once it is granted, but I would suggest to the hon. Member that I would have been no party to withdrawing any pension unless there was good ground for doing so. I have already said, in reply to the main question, that so far as the future is concerned every possible care will be taken.

Will these people from whom pensions have been withdrawn have the right of an appeal, because it is obvious that there is a difference of opinion with regard to some of these cases?

If there are any of the cases that think they have been hardly treated, I am quite prepared to accept representations from them.

Does the right hon. Gentleman think it fair to ask the local people to judge in such cases?

So far as I am personally concerned, I was not responsible for that arrangement.

Does the right hon. Gentleman take the attitude that it requires a specialist to decide whether a man can see or not?

There are certain cases where I think my hon. Friend will admit that it would require a specialist to judge.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware of the difficulty which fishermen now have in replacing worn-out drifters; and if he will state what proposals, if any, he has for assisting them out of that difficulty?

As indicated in my reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Banff (Major Wood) on the 17th December, I have had no representations from fishermen requesting assistance for replacing worn-out drifters. At the same time, I am aware that fishermen will have to face the question at some future time and I have been investigating the possibilities of a new type of boat which could be built and run at a lower cost than the types now in use.

Is the right hon. Gentleman investigating the question of the necessary credit for the replacement of these boats, as well as the question of a new type of boats, and is he inquiring into that question of credit on a different basis from that suggested by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland the other day in his speech at Aberdeen?

I have already replied to that question.

Will the right hon. Gentleman answer the latter part of that supplementary question?

Will the right hon. Gentleman assure this House that in any such arrangement made for the fishermen of Scotland the point of view expressed by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland that party politics should come in will not be the point of view of the right hon. Gentleman? [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer!"] In view of the very strange speech of the Under-Secretary at Aberdeen last Thursday, surely we are entitled to have from the Government an assurance that party politics will not come into the matter?

That supplementary question has nothing to do with the question on the Paper.

On a point of Order. Surely I am entitled to ask for an assurance, seeing that the Under-Secretary is a Member of the Government and has made a speech in Aberdeen suggesting that fishermen who do not vote Labour are not entitled to make applications?

That does not arise on this question.

Further to that point of Order. Surely, I am entitled to your protection in this matter. Here is a very serious statement made by a Minister in the country. We have his Chief here now, and surely the House is entitled to an assurance on this matter.

The question does not arise.

With all respect, it is precisely about these matters that the speech was made. It was made about arrangements for credit and applications made for the aid of distressed fishermen, and surely we are entitled to use this House at Question Time to elicit from the Secretary of State for Scotland an assurance that party politics will not be considered by the Government in this matter.

I do not see how that arises on this question.

May I suggest that the Under-Secretary should make a personal explanation after questions?

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he is aware that at the outbreak of the War steam drifters which were commandeered by the Government were commandeered with their nets and gear; that while the fishermen were paid only 30s. for their nets they had to re-equip themselves at about £9 per net; and whether the Government has taken these facts into consideration in refusing the fishermen's request for a Government contribution to the relief fund?

I am unable to answer the first two parts of the question without further time for inquiry, but I am doubtful whether the statements are wholly accurate and they do not appear to me to be relevant to the subject of the recent disaster off the East Anglian Coast. I refer to my answer yesterday to a question by the hon. and gallant Member for Caithness and Sutherland (Sir A. Sinclair) as regards the assistance which the Government are prepared to offer in connection with the losses suffered in that disaster.

Does the right hon. Gentleman consider that, if these facts are only partially true, it shows that there is a real obli- gation on the part of the Government to come to the assistance of these fishermen; and will he inquire how much truth there is in it, because it will be a great surprise to me if it is not true, as I have had it on first hand authority?

These are questions which require careful inquiry. As to the second part of the supplementary question, I would refer the hon. and gallant Member to my reply to the hon. and gallant Member for Caithness in which I stated the assistance which the Government are prepared to give.

Has the Secretary of State and his Department come to any definition as to what is the exact amount of money when the sum is mentioned as being "about £9"?

The right hon. Gentleman the Secretary of State for Scotland made a somewhat meagre statement on this subject yesterday, and perhaps he will amplify it to-day?

I would refer the hon. and learned Member to the answer which I gave yesterday in reply to questions by the hon. Members for Leith (Mr. E. Brown) and for Lanark (Mr. Dickson).

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that many young men and women residing with their parents have a parliamentary vote but do not possess the right to vote in local Government elections, owing to the practice of only allowing one municipal lodger vote where the rent of a house is under £20; and can he state approximately the number of parliamentary voters in Glasgow who do not possess the right to vote in town council elections?

I am aware that the statutory qualification for the lodgers franchise, which requires that the lodgings shall be of a yearly value, if let unfurnished, of not less than £10, will in certain circumstances have the effect suggested in the first part of the question. The estimated number of parliamentary voters in Glasgow who possess no municipal vote is 100,000.

asked the President of the Board of Trade the number of emigrants from Scotland during the past six months, indicating the chief countries to which they have gone, whether within or without the Empire?

As the answer contains a number of figures, I will with the hon. and gallant Member's permission circulate a table in the OFFICIAL REPORT.