§ Mr. LoftusI beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Shops (Sunday Trading Restriction) Act, 1936, and for purposes connected therewith.In seeking to introduce a Bill to amend an Act which has recently come into force, I can assure the House that only the most urgent and compelling reasons force me to do so. I now realise that, when I introduced the Sunday Trading Restriction Act last Session, it was too large and too complicated a Measure for handling by a private Member. I further realise that, as it went through Committee, I was not really a free agent and that there were compelling forces at work shaping the Bill, occasionally in directions which I did not approve. It is true that the Home Office took up an attitude of benevolent neutrality, but I suggest that that neutrality was no stricter than the neutrality observed by the Governments of Russia and Italy in the civil war in Spain.The difficulty of the actual operation of the Act has arisen through Clause 11 (1, a, ii). That paragraph was put in on an Amendment moved by the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Leslie) with the best possible motive of getting the greatest amount of leisure possible for all employés. I felt at the time that it would make the Bill difficult in actual operation and I resisted it, and I was prepared to go to a Division against it, but, acting under imperative advice which I could not disregard, I had to accept it in view of concessions made on another Clause. The paragraph allows an employé to work only three Sundays in one month. There are five Sundays in the coming August. That means that an employé, for 40 per cent. of his time on Sundays in August, is to be off duty. In seaside holiday resorts employment is at the peak in August. There is more business and work done in that month than in any three months of the year, and Sunday is the day when people come in from the surrounding districts and require the usual catering facilities.
The intention of the Act was in no way to interfere with the usual amenities and facilities given to our people. There is no unemployment in seaside resorts in 357 August. There is no spare labour. You cannot possibly get any reserve labour. The catering establishments next month will be deprived of 40 per cent. of their staff. That means that the public will riot be able to get the catering facilities that they have enjoyed for many years past. All the municipalities are up in arms against the provision. The amending Bill is very moderate. It is a one Clause Measure giving power to local authorities to exempt the operation of the provision for the month of August. That means that, if any local authority so desires, it can authorise employés to work for five Sundays during that month. I believe it should be July, August and September, but in my desire to make the Bill utterly non-contentious and to remove every possible cause of objection, I have confined it to the month of August. The other facilities, the half-holidays and whole holidays in the week, still remain. It is only during this peak period, to meet the public demand, that they are allowed to work on all the Sundays. I think that the Act that we passed last Session is on the whole a good one, redressing many grievances. We want it to be welcomed and to be operated to its full extent. Unless we take this step to remedy a genuine grievance, it will become inoperative in many places. If we do not provide this very moderate remedy, public opinion, expressed by local authorities and trade associations, will raise such a clamour that it will force the Home Office next Session to introduce far more drastic Amendments than this one, small, moderate Amendment affecting only one provision in the Act, which I recommended to the House.
§ Mr. Rhys DaviesI am sorry to oppose the hon. Member after the very excellent work he did in producing an Act of
§ Parliament providing one day's rest in seven for practically all employées in the distributive trades. But I think he is trying to undo his own work. A good deal of the arguments that he has used to-day were employed in the protracted proceedings in Committee. The provisions of the Act covering caterers have not yet come into operation. This is one of the very rare occasions in the history of Parliament when a Member responsible for producing an Act wants to destroy part of it before it has actually come into operation. Whatever the grievances may be against its provisions, they ought to be tried out. We ought to have an experimental period to see what is going to happen.
§ Another argument against the proposal is this. If we agree to it, the hon. Member will not be able to stop there. The ice-cream manufacturers, the newsagents, the butchers and the greengrocers will all be standing in a queue in the Lobby of the House of Commons seeking similar exemptions. The whole difficulty with the hon. Member is that, when he receives a deputation from any vested interest, he thinks the whole British Empire is in revolution against him. When he has been here as long as some of us, he will not take as much notice of deputations. This Bill undoubtedly would put the clock back. It would do more than that; it would make Parliament look simply ridiculous, and I oppose the Motion.
§ Question put, "That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Shops (Sunday Trading Restriction) Act, 1936, and for purposes connected therewith."
§ The House divided: Ayes, 123; Noes, 149.
359| Division No. 261.] | AYES. | [4.1 p.m. |
| Acland-Troyte, Lt.-Col. G. J. | Chorlton, A. E. L. | Elmley, Viscount |
| Apsley, Lord | Clarke, F. E. (Dartford) | Emrys-Evans, P. V. |
| Assheton, R. | Clarry, Sir Reginald | Fildes, Sir H. |
| Balfour, G. (Hampstead) | Cobb, Captain E. C. (Preston) | Fleming, E. L. |
| Beaumont, M. W. (Aylesbury) | Colfox, Major W. P. | Fox, Sir G. W. G. |
| Beit, Sir A. L. | Conant, Captain R. J. E. | Grant-Ferris, R. |
| Blair, Sir R. | Courthope, Col. Rt. Hon. Sir G. L. | Gridley, Sir A. B. |
| Boulton, W. W. | Crossley, A. C. | Grigg, Sir E. W. M. |
| Boyce, H. Leslle | Crowder, J. F. E. | Groves, T. E. |
| Briscoe, Capt. R. G. | Culverwell, C. T. | Guinness, T. L. E. B. |
| Brocklebank, Sir Edmund | Davison, Sir W. H. | Hannah, I. C. |
| Brown, Brig.-Gen. H. C. (Newbury) | De Chair, S. S. | Harbord, A. |
| Bull, B. B. | De la Bère, R. | Hartington, Marquess of |
| Campbell, Sir E. T. | Denville, Alfred | Harvey, Sir G. |
| Cary, R. A. | Doland, G. F. | Haslam, Henry (Horncastle) |
| Castlereagh, Viscount | Donner, P. W. | Hepworth, J. |
| Cayzer, Sir H. R.(Portsmouth, S.) | Duggan, H. J. | Herbert, Capt. Sir S. (Abbey) |
| Cazalet, Thelma (Islington, E.) | Eckersley, P. T. | Higgs, W. F. |
| Channon, H. | Elliston, Capt. G. S. | Hills, Major Rt. Hon. J. W. (Ripon) |
| Holmes, J. S. | Patrick, C. M. | Smiles, Lieut.-Colonel Sir W. D. |
| Hurd, Sir P. A. | Peat, C. U. | Smith, Bracewell (Dulwich) |
| James, Wing-Commander A. W. H. | P[...]th[...]ri[...]k, M. | Somerset, T. |
| Joel, D. J. B. | Pilkington, R. | Southby, Commander Sir A. R. J. |
| Keyes, Admiral of the Fleet Sir R. | Plugge, Capt. L. F. | Spears, Brigadier-General E. L. |
| Kimball, L. | Porritt, R. W. | Storey, S. |
| Lambert, Rt. Hon. G. | Radford. E. A. | Strickland, Captain W. F. |
| Latham, Sir P. | Ramsbotham, H. | Sueter, Rear-Admiral Sir M. F. |
| Leighton, Major B. E. P. | Rankin, Sir R. | Sutcliffe, H. |
| Lennox-Boyd, A. T. L. | Rawson, Sir Cooper | Tasker, Sir R. I. |
| Levy, T. | Rickards, G. W. (Skipton) | Tate, Mavis C. |
| Lipson, D. L. | Ropner, Colonel L. | Taylor, Vice-Adm. E. A. (Padd., S.) |
| Lovat-Fraser, J. A. | Ross Taylor, W. (Woodbridge) | Wardlaw-Milne, Sir J. S. |
| Makins, Brig.-Gen. E. | Royds, Admiral P. M. R. | Warrender, Sir V. |
| Manningham-Buller, Sir M. | Russell, S. H. M. (Darwen) | Waterhouse, Captain C. |
| Mayhew, Lt.-Col. J. | Salmon, Sir I. | Watt, G. S. H. |
| Meller, Sir R. J. (Mitcham) | Salt, E. W. | Wells, S. R. |
| Meller, Sir. J. S. P. (Tamworth) | Samuel, M. R. A. | Whiteley, Major J. P. (Buckingham) |
| Mitchell, Sir W. Lane (Streatham) | Sandeman, Sir N. S. | Williams, H. G. (Croydon, S.) |
| Moreing, A. C. | Savery, Sir Servington | Wood, Hon. C. I. C. |
| Morgan, R. H. | Selley, H. R. | |
| Neven-Spence, Major B. H. H. | Shaw, Major P. S. (Wavertree) | TELLERS FOR THE AYES.— |
| Nicolson, Hon. H. G. | Simmonds, O. E. | Mr Loftus and Captain H. Balfour. |
| NOES. | ||
| Acland, Rt. Hon. Sir F. Dyke | Graham, D. M. (Hamilton) | Morris, O. T. (Cardiff, E.) |
| Adams, S. V. T. (Leeds, W.) | Green, W. H. (Deptford) | Morrison, G. A. (Scottish Univ's.) |
| Agnew, Lieut.-Comdr. P. G. | Greenwood, Rt. Hon. A. | Morrison, R. C. (Tottenham, N.) |
| Alexander, Rt. Hon. A. V. (H'Isbr.) | Grenfell, D. R. | Muff, G. |
| Ammon, C. G. | Griffiths, G. A. (Hemsworth) | Nathan, Colonel H. L. |
| Astor, Viscountess (Plymouth, Sutton) | Griffiths, J. (Llanelly) | Noel-Baker, P. J. |
| Attlee, Rt. Hon. C. R. | Gunston, Capt. D. W. | Paling, W. |
| Bonfield, J. W. | Hall, G. H. (Aberdare) | Parker, J. |
| Barnes, A. J. | Hall, J. H. (Whitechapel) | Parkinson, J. A. |
| Barr, J. | Haslam, Sir J. (Bolton) | Pritt, D. N. |
| Batey, J. | Henderson, A. (Kingswinford) | Rathbone, Eleanor (English Univ's.) |
| Beauchamp, Sir B. C. | Henderson, J. (Ardwick) | Richards, R. (Wrexham) |
| Beaumont, Hon. R. E. B. (Portsm'h) | Henderson, T. (Tradeston) | Ridley, G. |
| Beechman, N. A. | Hepburn, P. G. T. Buchan- | Ritson, J. |
| Been, Rt. Hon. W. W. | Hills, A. (Pontefract) | Roberts, Rt. Hon. F. O. (W. Brom.) |
| Birchall, Sir J. D. | Holdsworth, H. | Rothschild, J. A. de |
| Broad, F. A. | Hopkin, D. | Rowson, G. |
| Bromfield, W. | Jenkins, Sir W. (Neath) | Russell, R. J. (Eddisbury) |
| Brown, C. (Mansfield) | John, W. | Seely, Sir H. M. |
| Brown, Col. D. C. (Hexham) | Johnston, Rt. Hon. T. | Sexton. T. M. |
| Buchanan, G. | Jones, A. C. (Shipley) | Shinwell, E. |
| Cartland, J. R. H. | Jones, Sir H. Haydn (Merioneth) | Silverman, S. S. |
| Charleton, H. C. | Jones, L. (Swansea W.) | Simpson, F. B. |
| Chat[...]r, D. | Jones, Morgan (Caerphilly) | Sinclair, Rt. Hon. Sir A. (C'thn's) |
| Cluse, W. S. | Keeling, E. H. | Smith, Ben (Rotherhithe) |
| Clynes, Rt. Hon. J. R. | Kelly, W. T. | Smith, E. (Stoke) |
| Cocks, F. S. | Kennedy, Rt. Hon. T. | Smith, Rt. Hon. H. B. Lees- (K'ly) |
| Cove, W. G. | Kirkwood, D. | Smith, L. W. (Hallam) |
| Crooke, J. S. | Lathan, G. | Smith, T. (Normanton) |
| Daggar, G. | Lawson, J. J. | Sorensen, R. W. |
| Davidson, J. J. (Maryhill) | Leach, W. | Stewart, W. J. (H'ght'n-Is-Sp'ng) |
| Davies, R. J. (Westhoughton) | Leckie, J. A. | Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth) |
| Davies, S. O. (Merthyr) | Lee, F. | Thorne, W. |
| Day, H. | Lees-Jo es, J. | Thurtle, E. |
| Denman, Hon. R. D. | Leonard, W. | Tinker, J. J. |
| Dobbie, W. | Lewis, O. | Viant, S. P. |
| Dower, Major A. V. G. | Logan, D. G. | Ward, Irene M. B. (Wallsend) |
| Dunn, E. (Rother Valley) | Lunn, W. | Watkins, F. C. |
| Ede, J. C. | MacAndrew, Colonel Sir C. G. | Watson, W. McL. |
| Edwards, A. (Middlesbrough E.) | Macdonald, G. (Ince) | Welsh, J. C. |
| Edwards, Sir C. (Bedwellty) | McEntee, V. La T. | Westwood, J. |
| Ellis, Sir G. | McGhee, H. G. | Whiteley, W. (Blaydon) |
| Emmott, C. E. G. C. | McKie, J. H. | Williams, E. J. (Ogmore) |
| Evans, Capt. A. (Cardiff, S.) | MacLaren, A. | Williams, T. (Don Valley) |
| Evans, E. (Univ. of Wales) | Maclean, N. | Windsor, W. (Hull, C.) |
| Fletcher, Lt.-Comdr. R. T. H. | MacMillan, M. (Western Isles) | Woods, G. S. (Finsbury) |
| Foot, D. M. | Magnay, T. | Young, Sir R. (Newton) |
| Frankel, D. | Mainwaring, W. H. | |
| Gallacher, W. | Mills, Sir F. (Leyton, E.) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES.— |
| Garro Jones, G. M. | Milner, Major J. | Mr. Burke and Mr. Jagger. |
| George, Major G. Lloyd (Pembroke) | Montague, F. |