HL Deb 08 June 1920 vol 40 cc516-7

Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee, read.

Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.— (Lord Hylton.)

House in Committee accordingly.

[THE EARL OF DONOUGHMORE in the Chair.]

Clause 1:

Interpretation of s. 5 (4) of 8 Geo. 5, c. 64.

1. For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that—

  1. (a) a person who, by virtue of subsection (4) of section five of the Representation of the People Act, 1918, has at any time become entitled, as a male naval or military voter serving or having served in or in connection with the war, to be registered as a parliamentary elector before attaining full age, continues to be so entitled, if otherwise qualified, notwithstanding that the service which brings him within the provisions of that section has ceased; and
  2. (b) the expression "service" in the said subsection (4) means service in or in connection with the war.

LORD HYLTON

I have one Amendment to move on behalf of my noble friend Viscount Astor. It is purely drafting. The intention of the Bill is to make it clear that a man who, by virtue of his service with the Forces in or in connection with the war, has been registered as a naval or military voter while under the age of twenty-one, shall continue to be entitled to be registered as a parliamentary elector after he has left the Forces, although he is still under twenty-one. But it is not intended that he should continue to be entitled to be registered as a naval or military voter. Naval or military voters are registered for the constituency for which they would have had the necessary qualification but for their service with the Forces, and their qualification is therefore a hypothetical one.

On leaving the Forces a man ceases to be qualified as a naval or military voter, and in order then to be registered he must obtain a qualification for a constituency by actual residence or the occupation of business premises. As the Bill stands, it might be construed as continuing the right of a man to be registered as a naval or military voter after he has left the Forces. The slight alterations made by the Amendment will remove any ambiguity on the point by making it quite clear that the clause deals only with the question of age.

Amendment moved— Clause 1, page 1, line 12, leave out ("so") and after the word ("qualified") to insert ("to be registered as a parliamentary elector before attaining full age"),—(Lord Hylton.)

Clause 1, as amended, agreed to.

Remaining clause agreed to.