HC Deb 10 July 1946 vol 425 cc472-4

Lords Amendment: In page 59, line 5, leave out from "substitution," to the end of the paragraph, and insert: (a) for the reference in subsection (2) of the said section seven to the purposes mentioned in paragraph 1 of that Schedule, of a reference to the purposes of the selling scheme in question: and (b) for references generally in those provisions to that Schedule, of references to this paragraph.

Mr. Shinwell

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

Mr. H. Macmillan

This being the last Amendment on the Paper, I would like to say that it is a matter of some congratulation to us that in a very few hours we have done a power of good. If it was possible to improve this Bill—and it has not been very easy because it has so many faults—it has been enormously improved by the large number of important Amendments which have been made in another place, and by the concessions which have been so wisely made by the Government, yielding sometimes to force and sometimes to argument. To the extent that these Amendments have been carried, we are correspondingly pleased. We should also like, if I may be allowed to say so, to congratulate the right hon. Gentleman the Minister for the skill with which once more he has conducted this Measure, and if we leave it now it is with a certain regret, and even nostalgia, for the pleasant and happy times it has given us together.

Mr. Shinwell

I speak by your leave, Mr. Speaker, and the leave of the House, as we are still on this drafting Amendment. I really have not very much to say about the nature of the draft; I take it that the wording is agreeable to all sections of the House. In any event, it has emerged from another place, and apparently hon. Members on the other side have found favour in the eyes of the Lords and I presume all is well. The right hon. Gentleman has very kindly offered his congratulations to me on having reached the final stages of the Bill. I am bound to say that if we have succeeded in our task, it has been largely due to the cooperation we have received in all quarters of the House. We had some acerbity, some acrimony, some heightened controversy in the Committee, but that is for the good of the soul And besides, sometimes it is excellent tactics to engage in what might appear to be embittered controversy because, having done so, one finds that the Opposition is thereafter subdued, and that is to our advantage.

I understand that the right hon.. Gentleman is convinced that as a result of the efforts of hon. Members opposite the Bill has been substantially improved I will not quarrel with that view. It is very desirable that in a democratic assembly all the members should make t contribution, not only in improving a Bill but in general legislative matters. That has been achieved, and I am very grateful to the right hon. Gentleman, and in particular to the right hon. and gallant Gentleman the Member for Gainsborough (Captain Crookshank), who is not present at the moment, but who, throughout our proceedings, has helped by his wit and his engaging manner to make the proceedings occasionally lively and certainly useful. There is only one other thing I want to say: I feel I cannot allow this Bill to pass from my hands without expressing my admiration of the work done by my Parliamentary Secretary and, in particular, by the civil servants in the Ministry of Fuel and Power, without whose cooperation and guidance we could not have succeeded

Mr. Gallacher rose——

Mr. Speaker

The hon. Member will remember that we are on a drafting Amendment.

Remaining Lords Amendments agreed to [Several with Special Entries].