31. Sir NICHOLAS GRATTANDOYLEasked the Home Secretary why certain matters specifically mentioned in the title of the Representation of the People Bill have been omitted from the text thereof; and when will a complete draft of the text of the Bill be before the House?
§ Mr. SHORTAs the House will remember, the Government had given a promise that the Bill would be intro- 345 duced before the House rose for the Christmas adjournment, and that promise was duly fulfilled. At the time of the presentation of the Bill, certain proposals were still under consideration by the Government. It was decided, therefore, that the Long Title should be framed in terms wide enough to enable the Government to include all the proposals which they then had under consideration. The Government eventually decided that it was desirable to omit certain proposals referred to in the Long Title. It was clearly in the public interest and for the convenience of the House that the actual text of the Government's proposals should be made available as soon as possible. Advantage was, therefore, taken of the introduction of the Bill to place the Government's proposals in the hands of Members at the earliest opportunity. The Government now propose to withdraw formally the present Bill and to introduce immediately another Bill with a Long Title appropriate to the contents of the Bill which has been issued.
§ Sir N. GRATTAN-DOYLEOn a point of Order. May I ask you, Sir, for a Ruling as to whether the Title of the Bill is in order.
§ Mr. SPEAKERThe hon. Member asks me a point of Order arising out of this question; whether the Bill, as originally presented, is in order or not. I have given the matter some consideration. It is a well-known rule of the House that nothing can be inserted in a Bill which is outside the Title of the Bill. It is certainly without precedent, and it would be an undesirable practice to have matters specifically mentioned in the Title of the Bill which do not appear in the Bill itself. More than that I cannot say.
§ Sir K. WOODHave these lost Clauses yet been discovered? Where is the Clause relating to the funds of political associations?
Commander Sir BOLTON EYRES MONSELLI did not gather from what the hon. Gentleman said if the Title of the new Bill is going to be curtailed or the contents extended.
§ Sir ARTHUR STEEL-MAITLANDWill the hon. Gentleman answer the supplementary question? The words he has just used completely describe the Bill which has already been published but does not give the information for which my right hon. Friend asks.