HC Deb 03 July 1940 vol 362 cc971-4

10.52 p.m.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Peake)

I beg to move, That the Orders made by the Secretary of State under the Sunday Entertainments Act, 1932, for extending Section one of that Act to, respectively—

  1. (1) the urban district of Tavistock,
  2. (2) the borough of Harwich,
  3. (3) the urban district of Llandrindod Wells copies of which were presented to this House on 20th March;
  4. (4) the urban district of East Barnet,
  5. (5) the city and county of Bristol,
  6. (6) the city and county of Lichfield,
  7. (7) the city and county of Chester,
  8. (8) the borough of Wokingham,
  9. (9) the city of Leicester copies of which were presented to this House on 25th June;
  10. (10) the borough of Banbury,
  11. (11) the urban district of Beeston and Stapleford,
  12. (12) the borough of Brecon,
  13. (13) the borough of Bridgnorth,
  14. (14) the borough of Bury St. Edmunds,
  15. (15) the city of Canterbury,
  16. (16) the urban district of Caterham and Warlingham,
  17. (17) the borough of Chelmsford,
  18. (18) the borough of Chesterfield,
  19. (19) the urban district of Cowes,
  20. (20) the county borough of Derby,
  21. (21) the rural district of Dursley,
  22. (22) the urban district of East Grinstead,
  23. (23) the urban district of Epping,
  24. (24) the urban district of Felixstowe,
  25. (25) the urban district of Gainsborough,
  26. (26) the city of Lancaster,
  27. (27) the urban district of Leatherhead,
  28. (28) the borough of Loughborough,
  29. (29) the borough of Ludlow,
  30. (30) the borough of Mansfield,,
  31. (31) the urban district of Market Drayton,
  32. (32) the borough of Newport (Isle of Wight),
  33. (33) the rural district of North Cotswold,
  34. (34) the city of Nottingham,
  35. (35) the borough of Oswestry,
  36. (36) the city of Oxford,
  37. (37) the borough of Pontefract,
  38. (38) the county borough d Preston,
  39. (39) the city of Ripon,
  40. (40) the urban district of Shepton Mallet,
  41. (41) the borough of Shrewsbury,
  42. (42) the urban district of Tonbridge,
  43. (43) the county borough of Warrington,
  44. (44) the rural district of Wayland (parish of Watton),
  45. (45) the urban district of Wigston,
  46. (46) the urban district of Woking, and
  47. (47) the city of York copies of which were presented to this House on 26th June, be approved."

10.53 p.m.

Mr. Rhys Davies

May I ask a question on this subject? Do I understand that these Orders will be in force only during the national emergency and that they will come to an end when the war ends? Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would be good enough to answer that question.

Mr. Peake

No. These Orders require a Resolution of both Houses of Parliament. They are made in pursuance of the Defence Regulation which sets out the procedure under which a certificate of a competent military authority takes the place of a local poll or whatever the local procedure may be, and they will come to an end when the Defence Regulation is suspended or brought to an end after the war.

10.54 p.m.

Sir Joseph Nall (Manchester, Hulme)

Do we understand that all these Orders are at the instigation of the military authority, and that in no case has the local authority asked for these Orders?

Mr. Peake

There are 47 of these Orders. My impression is that in respect of all of them they are made, under a new procedure, from a certificate of a competent military authority, but if there is any particular Order where the hon. Member would like to ask a question, I can easily give him the necessary information.

Sir J. Nall

I do not want to embarrass the hon. Gentleman by asking questions without notice. There are so many Orders on the Paper at one time under the Emergency legislation, instead of under the proper Act which ought to be pursued in the proper form, that one is rather open to the feeling that the cinema trade may have instigated this matter without any real local demand. That is why I asked whether the military authority has asked for these without any reference to the local authority.

Mr. Peake

I think I am right in saying that all the Orders were made on the certificate of the appropriate military authorities. They only empower the licensing authorities, of course, to grant licences for Sunday entertainments; they do not, of themselves, enable cinemas to open on Sundays.

Sir J. Nall

That completely alters the case. I understand that although this Motion may be passed, the matter must still go before the appropriate licensing authorities?

Mr. Peake

That is so.

Question put, and agreed to.

The remaining Orders were read, and postponed.

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