CLAUSE 3.—(Right to and duration of benefit.) (Hansard, 26 June 1934)

§ Mr. SPEAKER
I must point out to the House that a question of privilege arises on this Amendment as it affects the qualification for the receipt of benefit.

§ The MINISTER of LABOUR (Sir Henry Betterton)
I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

§ Mr. BUCHANAN
On a point of Order. Would it not be possible for the Minister to make a general statement on these Amendments which might prevent constant repetition afterwards and would enable us to know the relationship between one Amendment and another?

§ Mr. LAWSON
I think the suggestion made by the hon. Member for Gorbals (Mr. Buchanan) is a good one. It will be for the convenience of the House to have such a statement from the Minister. As far as we are concerned, and, I think, it is the general opinion in the House, there is nothing material in these Amendments that we have need to oppose. As a matter of fact I think that in this case, the other House has turned itself into a revising Chamber and that they have done on the whole some useful work in that capacity.

§ Sir H. BETTERTON
I entirely agree with what the hon. Gentleman has said. These Amendments are, for the most part, drafting Amendments, and those which are not drafting Amendments are Amendments designed to carry out undertakings which were given when the Bill was in Committee. If I may refer to one Amendment, which I think is the only one of substance in the whole of 1102 this long list, it is an Amendment which proposes to increase by one the number of members of the Statutory Committee. In the Bill as it left the House the number was fixed at five, but in another place an Amendment was passed increasing the number to six. It was impressed upon me in the course of our long discussions on the Bill that the importance of the Statutory Committee was more and more appreciated as the discussions proceeded. I had repeated requests from all quarters of the House that, first one and then another question, should be referred to the committee, and for that reason I thought it better to accept the Amendment that an extra member should be added. I accept what the hon. Member for Chester-le-Street (Mr. Lawson) said with regard to the general purport of the other Amendments.

§ Mr. SPEAKER
If it meets the convenience of the House, I propose to put these Amendments in blocks, and I think I ought to take separately those Amendments which raise the question of privilege, as to which, as a matter of form, special entries will be made. I will put the first Amendment, which, as I have pointed out, raises the question of privilege.