HL Deb 27 July 1967 vol 285 cc1136-7

[Nos. 10–12]

Clause 69, page 54, line 32, leave out ("imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or")

Clause 69, page 54, line 33, leave out ("£200") and insert ("£50")

Clause 69, page 54, line 33, leave out ("or both")

The Commons disagreed to these Amendments for the following Reason:

Because the Amendments would reduce the penalties imposed by the clause below the level which the Commons consider appropriate.

LORD STONHAM

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I beg to move that this House doth not insist on Amendments Nos. 10, 11 and 12, to which the Commons have disagreed.

Moved, That this House doth not insist on Amendments Nos. 10, 11 and 12, to which the Commons have disagreed.—(Lord Stonham.)

LORD BROOKE OF CUMNOR

My Lords, these Amendments are all linked together, and they derive, I think, from Amendments moved by my noble friend the Duke of Atholl when we came to the subject of shot-guns. We had lengthy, some might say inordinate, discussions, on this Part of the Bill, partly because it seemed to be not quite in keeping with the rest of the purpose of the Bill. At a relatively early stage of those discussions, which were prolonged both in Committee and on Report, my noble friend moved these Amendments because he thought, at any rate in relation to the clauses as they then stood, that the penalty provisions were excessive. By common consent we have improved the clauses, and in addition to that I, as an ex-Home Secretary, am perhaps a little more inclined than most to side with what is evidently the Government view, that the Home Office must keep the maximum penalties for varied offences proportionately in line as far as possible. I think there was a great deal to be said for my noble friend's Amendments, certainly in relation to the clause as it first stood, but in view of what has happened since, and in view of what is clearly the Government's view, that the penalties here should be the same as those laid down by Parliament as maximum penalties under the Firearms Act, I would not advise your Lordships to dissent from what has been done in another place.

On Question, Motion agreed to.