HC Deb 04 December 1945 vol 416 c2230

Lords Amendment:

In page 2, line 30, leave out "forty," and insert "four."

10.4 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture (Mr. Collick)

I beg to move, "That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment."

The House will be familiar with the procedure which is followed when a Bill gives a Minister the power to make an Order. Under that procedure the Order is laid before Parliament, and if Parliament so decides within a period of forty days that Order can be annulled. There is a standard provision which is adopted in all Bills of this kind which reads as follows: And in reckoning the said period of forty-days no account shall be taken of any time during which Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or during which both Houses are adjourned for more than four days. Unfortunately and regrettably, instead of the word "four" days being in the Bill, through some clerical or printer's error, the word "forty" appeared. The Amendment merely seeks to put in the correct word, which is "four," instead of "forty," which is printed in the Bill.