ONCE again, the government is preparing to repeat an experiment that has cost consumers dearly. The sugar industry claims a surplus of 1.03m tonnes and wants immediate export permission. The government should resist until it has independently verified that figure. It cannot let the industry set both numbers and policy. There is good reason for scepticism. The Sugar Inquiry Commission documented export subsidies, alleged supply manipulation, underreporting and heavy windfall profits. The Competition Commission found evidence of price fixing among millers and later imposed penalties. Neither inquiry produced convictions or structural........

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