HC Deb 01 February 1934 vol 285 cc549-51
Mr. ATTLEE

May I ask the Prime Minister what business will be taken next week?

The PRIME MINISTER

Monday and Tuesday: Unemployment Bill, Committee stage—these are fourth and fifth allotted days.

Wednesday: Private Members' Motions.

Thursday: Second Reading of the British Hydrocarbon Oil Production Bill and of the Mining Industry (Welfare Fund) Bill; Committee stage of the Rural Water Supplies Money Resolution.

Friday: Private Members' Bills.

On any day, if there is time, other Orders will be taken.

Mr. ATTLEE

May I ask whether the Government propose to give time for a discussion of the Disarmament Memorandum?

The PRIME MINISTER

I shall be glad indeed to provide time for that discussion at the earliest opportunity. The Order of Business which I have just announced was settled before the publication of the Memorandum, but, if it meets the convenience of the House, especially of the Opposition, I shall be glad to vary Tuesday's business, and, instead of taking the Unemployment Bill, give time for a discussion of the Memorandum which has been issued.

Mr. ATTLEE

I am much obliged to the Prime Minister.

Mr. TINKER

Will there be sufficient time on Thursday to discuss the two important Bills mentioned by the Prime Minister? They are both mining Bills.

The PRIME MINISTER

I think there will be sufficient time. The hon. Member will remember that the Hydrocarbon Oil Production Bill has been discussed already, and the Mining Industry (Welfare Fund) Bill is a comparatively small Measure. I know that my hon. Friend and his colleagues have one rather important point, but I think there is sufficient time to deal with the two Bills.

Mr. MAXTON

Is there any chance, after the experience we have had of the discussions on the Unemployment Bill in Committee, of the Government making a reallocation of the time allotted for the Committee stage?

The PRIME MINISTER

I regret very much that other business made it impossible for me to be in the House when this matter was raised on two previous occasions. I apologise to the House, but the observations made by my right hon. Friend will certainly be taken into account by the Government after we have finished the Committee stage. It can only affect the allocation of time to be given to the Report stage. We are watching the day-to-day proceedings, and when we have to ask the House to consider the allocation of time for Report, the experience of the Committee stage will be taken into account.

Mr. MAXTON

Is the Prime Minister aware that very important principles involved in training centres raised by the Measure have received absolutely no Committee discussion at all, and I contend that a Report discussion is not an adequate substitute for a Committee discussion?

The PRIME MINISTER

My hon. Friend will know that slight inconveniences arise from time to time, but the point will not be overlooked. I make no pledge, but the experience of the Committee in carrying out the Rule that was passed by the House will be taken into consideration at the end of the Committee stage.

Mr. LAWSON

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that, although three Clauses were to be discussed before half-past seven the other day, we did not touch one single Amendment on the Paper. It was not because of any obstruction, but because the Minister of Labour himself moved a manuscript Amendment which made it impossible to deal with the Amendments on the Paper?

The PRIME MINISTER

I am sorry, but that has been the experience before. The circumstances the other night, I think, have not all to be attributed to the responsibility of the Government. I do not want to be controversial at all. My right hon. Friend has twice indicated the mind of the Government on this matter, and I say to the House now that what he said will be taken into account by the Government as soon as the Com- mittee stage is concluded and we have to consider the allocation for the Report stage.

Mr. MAXTON

The point that I am trying to impress on the Prime Minister and the point that my hon. Friend the Member for Gorbals (Mr. Buchanan) tried to impress on the Lord President of the Council, is that if it is possible to adjust the time allotted for the Report and Third Reading, it is equally possible to adjust the time allotted to the Committee stage, and our experience up to now—I am not saying that the 14 days allocation was wrong—has proved that the time allotted for each section has not been adequate for the important issues involved in each section, without any waste of time. The Prime Minister may quite rightly say that the Opposition take up a certain amount of time. That is what we are here for. But there was only reasonable discussion on each of these days. There was nothing in the nature of stupid obstruction, and I am asking the Prime Minister not to give an answer except to this extent, will he consider, in consultation with the Minister of Labour and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, the possibility of readjusting the Committee time-table, and not merely the Report stage time-table?

Mr. C. WILLIAMS

Is the Prime Minister aware that the hon. Member for Bridgeton (Mr. Maxton) is a very skilful fisherman?

The PRIME MINISTER

The hon. Member for Bridgeton (Mr. Maxton) and I are very old friends, and we understand each other very well.

Mr. MAXTON

It will take me a long time to live that down.

The PRIME MINISTER

This really is a matter which concerns the House. The House will appreciate that when the time-table was adopted the Government did not attempt to divide the time allocated for the Report stage because it anticipated that certain reasonable difficulties would be encountered in the application of the time-table to the Committee stage. I think the House may just leave it there. I can go no further than I have already gone.