HC Deb 15 July 1946 vol 425 cc959-92
The Solicitor-General

I beg to move, in page 26, line 43, at the end, to insert: or, if the circumstances so require, until such later date as the Commissioners may allow, being a date not later than the end of the year nineteen hundred and forty-nine. This is an Amendment which is designed to meet the argument advanced, in particular, by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for the Scottish Universities (Sir J. Anderson). As the House will recollect, terminal expenses qualify under Clause 33 of the Bill if they are incurred in 1947 and subject to notice being given in 1948. It was strongly represented during the discussion on the Committee stage that that was too short a period to enable terminal expenses to be met. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer undertook to reconsider the period and as the result of that reconsideration this Amendment appears on the Order Paper. It is designed, in effect, to extend the period to such later date as the Commissioners think appropriate in a particular case to allow, such later date, however, not to be later than the end of 1949. That gives the Commissioners a discretion in respect of one additional year, and I hope that the House will think that a reasonable way of meeting the argument and one which represents a fair concession to the point of view which was advanced, particularly by the right hon. Gentleman and also by other hon. Members on the other side of the House.

7.45 P.m.

Sir J. Anderson

As the hon. and learned Gentleman has said, this Clause deals with a matter on which I addressed the Committee during the Committee stage. I am bound to say that the Amendment on the Order Paper does not go quite so far as I had hoped. I made it clear in the arguments that I advanced that I fully sympathised with the desire of the Chancellor and the Revenue authorities to wind up these matters at the earliest convenient date. I should like the Financial Secretary to the Treasury to take note that I still do not feel that one can be confident that all the work which has to be done will, in tact, be completed even by the extended date now specified in this Amendment. There are difficult questions involved; the effect of the previous proposal, as explained by the Chancellor, of encouraging the speediest possible completion of the deferred maintenance was, as I pointed out, one which, in my view, certainly ought to be avoided rather than encouraged, because there is little doubt that in many cases the repair of war damage should come ahead of deferred maintenance.

I take it that the Chancellor, in putting this Amendment on the Order Paper, has recognised the force of the argument I put forward. On that assumption I would certainly advise my hon. Friends to accept the Amendment on the understanding, of course, that if experience over the next 18 months or so should prove that, unfortunately, it is not going to be possible to dispose of this matter altogether within the extended time now allowed, proper and sympathetic consideration will be given on a later occasion to the question of a further extension. For the present, holding, as I do, that it is important that these matters should be wound up as soon as is reasonably practicable, I would, for my own part accept this Amendment, thank the Chancellor of the Exchequer for the concession he has made, and trust that the House will agree with me generally in that view.

Amendment agreed to.

Sir A. Gridley

I beg to move, in page 29, line 6, at the end, to insert: (d) The terminal expenses which are to be left out of account under paragraph (b) and paragraph (c) of this Subsection shall be attributed to the body corporate which incurred the terminal expenses.

Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Mr. Hubert Beaumont)

I think it would be for the convenience of the House if we discussed, at the same time, the two following Amendments standing in the name of the hon. Gentleman—in page 29, line 13. at the end, to insert: in any claim by the body corporate and shall be attributed to the principal company of the group. and in page 29, line 22, at the end, to insert: in any claim by the body corporate and shall be attributed to the principal company of the group.

Sir A. Gridley

These Amendments were put down on the Committee stage but I thought it proper to put them down again, because they are directed to a common purpose to which I attach considerable importance as, I think, the House should also. It is that an assurance given by a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, the late Sir Kingsley Wood, in 1943, should be fulfilled. The assurance was that all the expenses of a revenue nature which were incurred in earning one's excess profits would be allowed as a deduction when the time came for clearing up the outstanding questions.

The Bill makes arrangements in respect of terminal losses, in order to fulfil the promise made by the Chancellor. If a company joins a group of companies, neither the group nor any of the companies will get an allowance for expenses. I do not think the fact can be disputed that E.P.T. charged on businesses has been increased because of war circumstances and of expenditure incurred on deferred repairs and rehabilitation. It therefore is no kind of excuse to refuse to refund the overcharged expense merely because the shareholders of a company changed, when it joined or left a group of companies. If the company is not at any time a member of the group, its shares can go on changing hands indefinitely without affecting its right to claim allowances. Why should there be discrimination against groups of companies? Allowances for terminal expenses in all other cases have remained dependent upon expenditure being incurred. The Amendment which was moved during the Committee stage was criticised on the ground of its vagueness. Other Amendments, not selected, sought to give the E.P.T. allowance to the persons who paid the extra tax. The Amendment I now move differs slightly from the earlier Amendment. The main purpose is to see that one or other of the persons concerned receives the allowance. I emphasise that it is an important principle that technicalities should not be allowed to stand in the way of the fulfilment of assurances given in Parliament.

The Amendment avoids the technical objection which was raised in Committee, by giving the allowance to the person Who actually laid out the money, except in the case of deferred repairs, in which case another Clause says that the cost of the repairs can be related to any period. I have given this explanation in justification for the Amendment and the other two Amendments in my name which are being discussed at the same time. I hope that I have given the Solicitor-General an argument for reconsideration of the views which he expressed when dealing with this matter on the previous occasion.

Sir P. Bennett

I beg to second the Amendment.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Sir A. Gridley) has explained how it has been possible to clarify the position and to make plain exactly what we claim. The only point I wish to emphasise is that if a company is not in a group of companies, its shares can change hands on the open market and no one takes any notice. Because it is in a group, there seems to be suspicion that something is going on that ought not to go on, and that therefore the companies have to be specially controlled. I can never understand why there should be any attempt to penalise groups. Groups arise because of necessity. Many of us have an objection to attempts being made to freeze industry into its present mould and to say, "That is how you shall go on. You shall not change." Changes are made because of necessity. People do not form groups of companies for amusement or to provide lawyers with fees. There is usually some change in circumstances, necessitating a change from one group to another. I support my hon. Friend in urging that nothing should be done to prevent the normal development of business along lines which are most helpful. We shall be fighting for our lives in the commercial world against other countries in the days to come, and we want nothing to be done to prevent our taking advantage of every opportunity. Here is a case, in which we feel that an unnecessary curb is being placed upon industry.

The Solicitor-General

This topic was canvassed very fully when the Finance Bill was in Committee, and both hon. Gentlemen who have put their names to the Amendment then put their names to an Amendment which purported to deal with the problem on rather different lines. We feel that the Amendment now put down in no sense solves the problem better than the previous Amendment, and that neither of them can be accepted

In answering the case that was made in support of the previous Amendment I said that Excess Profits Tax legislation treated groups of companies as units and that it was highly undesirable that, if a company ceased to be a member of a unit, the right to deferred repair allowance in respect of that company should depend upon whether the future owner carried them out or not. Exactly the same objection exists in regard to this Amendment. I want to examine this matter in a little more detail, but before I do so I would remind the House, as I did the Committee, that Clause 35 (4) lays down that where there is real injustice, in the sense that the change of ownership is only a partial change and there is some community between the old and the new owner, discretion is vested in the Commissioners to do what is right, so as not to prejudice that common ownership. There is, therefore, as it were, a safety valve and a buffer. I called the attention of Members to that before, and I do so again. There is no reason why, where there is only a partial change of ownership, a perfectly fair order should not be made which would preserve to the continuing owner such right as he had in the company before it ceased to be a member of the group which it has left. There will be no injustice at all where there is anything that can be said to be a semblance of common ownership. Where there is no continuity, and the company has come completely under new ownership, it is entirely wrong that there should be any right to deferred repairs allowance which should depend upon the action of somebody who is no longer the owner of the company and no longer the person entitled to those deferred repairs. It is only necessary to state that, to indicate its undesirability.

8.0 p.m.

Supposing I am the owner of a company and I sell it to somebody else, it is entirely improper and undesirable from a commercial point of view that my right to a deferred repairs allowance should depend on the action of the new owner which I cannot influence one way or the other, and who has his own perfectly good reasons for deciding whether or not he will carry out these repairs. That is one reason why the Excess Profits Tax legislation regards these groups of companies as units. That objection has not been met by the Amendment, and I will tell the House why. I will analyse what would happen in the case of each of the Amendments in the name of the hon. Member for Stockport (Sir A. Gridley). I will use letters as symbols and I hope it will be clear. "A" is a member of group "X." In the final Excess Profits Tax chargeable accounting period for 1946, for example, we have company "A and group" In 1947 the whole of the shares of "A" are bought by another group, "Y." If the first of the proposed Amendments was accepted, the result would be that while "A" was a member of group "Y," "X" would or would not get the deferred repairs allowance according to whether "Y" decided to carry out the repairs or not. In other words, company "A" passes from "X" to "Y." "X" is the group which it is suggested should retain and enjoy the deferred repairs allowance. "Y," the present owner of the company, may or may not decide to carry out those repairs, and according to whether it does decide to carry them out or not, "X" will enjoy the deferred repairs allowance. That cannot be right. It is not commercial commonsense. It would lead to various abuses, and there is no logic or sense about it. That is why the Clause is drawn as it is, so as to exclude "X" having the right to a deferred repairs allowance in that set of circumstances.

The second and third Amendments do exactly the same thing. They provide again that one group shall benefit or shall not benefit in respect of a deferred repairs allowance dependent upon whether the subsequent group which acquires the company does the repairs or not. That cannot be right. If the House will analyse the effect of the Amendments, they will find they bring about a position similar to that I have described in respect of the first one. I ask the House to say that these are adequate reasons why this particular set of Amendments should not be adopted. The Excess Profits Tax legislation treats these groups of companies as one unit, and that is fundamental and basic to it. Deficiencies are not carried on from one group to another, as I am sure the hon. Members who moved and seconded the Amendment know only too well. The reason is exactly the same. The Excess Profits Tax code regards these groups of com- panies as a single unit in the same way as a partnership—

Sir A. Gridley

So long as they remain together?

The Solicitor-General

So long as the partnership remains a partnership. There is a buffer Clause in respect of a partnership. The net result is that each of these Amendments would lead to most undesirable results on the lines I have indicated. Where, however, there is not a complete change of ownership, so that the same person or group of persons are the continuing owners to a greater or lesser extent, the Commissioners are given discretion to make such orders they think proper in the circumstances to prevent any injustice, but when one seeks to go beyond that and to transfer the right to an allowance from a former to a later owner, entirely different in identity, one is going beyond the principles upon which the Excess Profits Tax legislation is based.

I ask the House to say that, for these reasons, these Amendments ought not to be accepted. I quite see the point behind them, but the hon. Member for Stockport cannot have considered exactly what they would lead to. I hope that hon. Gentlemen opposite will see their way to withdraw the proposal on the ground that it is objectionable in exactly the same way that the previous proposal which they moved was objectionable. It is fundamental in this case that the right to deferred repairs allowance must depend on their being carried out by the owner for the time being who is entitled to enjoy the allowance which is given in respect of deferred repairs actually carried out. I ask the House to reject these Amendments.

Captain Crookshank

This is frightfully technical, and I cannot persuade myself that I have understood the whole of it. I take it that what the Solicitor-General is relying on is not in this Clause but is in Clause 35 (4)

The Solicitor-General

I am sorry if I have not made it clear. What I said is that when one has a complete change of ownership, these particular Amendments would lead to undesirable results if they were accepted. Where one has a partial change of ownership, Clause 35 (4) prevents any injustice being done

Captain Crookshank

That crystallises the point. The Solicitor-General was referring to what the Commissioners might do if they thought fit, but that is not in the Clause. In the case of a partial change, the Solicitor-General relies on Clause 35 (4) which says: …the Commissioners may, if they think lit, allow the relief or additional relief or such part thereof as they think just, having regard to the extent to which the persons directly or Indirectly interested in the trade or business… and so on. The Solicitor-General relies on that. It was put in later in the Committee stage.

The Solicitor-General

No.

Captain Crookshank

Was that not the case? In any case, where there is a partial change, the Solicitor-General relies on the discretion of the Commissioners. The case of my hon. Friends is that it should be made quite clear that the expenses should be allowed to the person who actually incurs the expense. There is some doubt whether there is a break up in a group. I am not yet quite clear whether that principle is adopted throughout—that if expenses are incurred, it is the people who incur the expenses to whom the allowances eventually go.

The Solicitor-General

Not necessarily.

Captain Crookshank

It is not necessarily so? Then I must leave my hon. Friends to think out the consequences of that from the point of view of their own Amendment.

Sir A. Gridley

May I ask a question—

Mr. Deputy-Speaker

The hon. Member can speak a second time only by leave of the House.

Sir A. Gridley

I am putting my point in the form of a question, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, and of course I understand that I can only speak a second time with the leave of the House. The question is this: Suppose I represent a company in a group of five or six companies all hitherto welded together. My undertaking is sold to another body altogether and I have a claim for compensation for deferred repairs which I have not been able to carry out. Is it the view of the Government that because I am sold from the body with which I have been connected to another, I must give up my claim to this compensation allowance for deferred repairs merely-because I have broken away from the body with which I have been associated so long and have attached myself to another?

The Solicitor-General

Unless it is only a partial change of ownership.

Sir A. Gridley

I am assuming a complete change of ownership. In that case it is the State that benefits, and there is no encouragement to the undertaking to carry out its deferred repairs. If it does not carry them out, presumably the price paid to the seller will be so much less and no sum will be provided to enable the repairs to be carried out. In that case the State benefits merely because an undertaking is sold from one group to another.

Mr. I. J. Pitman

In this particular case it seems to me that the hon. and learned Solicitor-General is making a change from the accepted and universal practice of regarding as a legal entity any body which is incorporated. It seems to me that it is the incorporated body, rather than the ultimate owners of the undertaking, who hold the shares in their corporate entity; it is the corporate entity which has paid the outgoings in Excess Profits Tax, which is the one entitled to receive the benefit in due time. Is the Solicitor-General not making a fundamental change in the legal conception in this respect? Is not this in some sense a pure debt? Take Company A which is owed £100,000 by somebody who might pay it. The shareholders of Company A in the course of time between the contracting of that debt and the liquidating of it are changed on the nominal register of shareholders, but it does not seem to me that that is any reason for saying, "That debt just does not count; the company will not get it, and the debtor will be let off." That seems to me to be largely the point being put by my hon. Friend who moved the Amendment. I would like to know where I have gone wrong, if, indeed, I am wrong.

8.15 p.m.

Lieut.-Commander Braithwaite

No doubt the hon. and learned Solicitor-General would like to reply to these points together. I followed him with great attention and, as my right hon. and gallant Friend said, we are in very deep legal and technical waters. The only thing which was really clear was that the absence of the Chancellor means that we are to get no concession. The hon. and learned Gentleman is always left to hand out rebuffs whereas the Chancellor of the Exchequer hands out benefits. The hon. and learned Gentleman always deals with these difficult matters most agreeably. However, I would put this to him: that the present industrial phase through which we are passing is unique in one sense. The hon. and learned Gentleman may recall that during the Committee stage an Amendment was moved, which 1 supported, dealing with concentrated industries in another connection. During the war it was necessary to carry out over a very wide field the concentration of industries inaugurated by the present Chancellor at the Board of Trade. At the time everybody realised it was necessary for war production. Some of those industries have found concentration beneficial and are now seeking to amalgamate. Others, on the other hand, are seeking to return to their former status. I am not clear from the speech of the hon. and learned Gentleman whether industries thus concentrated during the war by the Government of the day thereby become members of groups. Certainly they have had to operate as such. The whole of the machinery of administration and organisation has had to be so operated. The hon. and learned Gentleman may tell us that the financial arrangements were never so concentrated. Of course the financial arrangements were very considerably affected.

With regard to his illustration of Company A in Group X, Company A might have been concentrated within the ambit of Group X during the war, making, let us say, radar equipment. Well the war is now over and Company A wishes to return to the form of manufacture in which it was engaged in 1937 or 1938, and for that reason its continued existence within Group X is no longer desirable. It is therefore the desire of the directors of Company A now to detach themselves from Group X, and Group Y may be a convenient organisation for them. That cannot be an exceptional instance; there must be many others all over the country in similar industries. I was not clear from the speech of the hon. and learned Gentleman whether this payment, which will disappear if this Amendment is rejected, covers the case of the industry which has been forced to concentrate. If it does, I think a hardship is being created. If it does not, the hon. and learned Gentleman will perhaps get up and say so, and by doing so will place on our records words of great importance to a number of people who must be wondering what will be the outcome of this discussion.

The Solicitor-General

If I may have the permission of the House to speak again, I would like to deal with the points made. With regard to the questions asked by the hon. and gallant Gentleman the Member for Holderness (Lieut.-Commander Braithwaite), the answer to the question depends whether within the definitions in the Acts there is a group. A group consists, in terms of the Acts, of a principal and subsidiaries, and a subsidiary company is one which is owned as to more than nine-tenths of its shares by a principal company. It depends upon what form the concentration has taken. I should think that normally et would not take that form of concentration, but it is, of course, a question of the facts in every particular case.

In answer to the hon. Gentleman the Member for Bath (Mr. Pitman), with great respect to him and to the House, I feel that he is under a misconception as to the nature of these deferred repairs allowances. They are not debt dues from anybody to anybody; they are debts conditional upon certain repairs being carried out. If repairs are actually carried out and expenditure is incurred, an allowance is due. But there is no debt which subsists apart from the actual carrying out of the repairs. It is true that in one of the concessions the Government have made, in respect of buildings acquired before 1937, in one of the new Clauses I moved today, there is some-

thing which goes a little nearer to creating something which might be called a debt. But there is expense incurred in the erecting of a new building in place of the pre-1937 building. It is a wholly misconceived view to think that there is any debt in the case of the body corporate which is cancelled as a result of this cancellation of the right to deferred purchase allowance. There is nothing of the sort. It is a right to an allowance conditional upon certain repairs being carried out.

The Excess Profits Tax code regards these groups as a single entity. That is made clear by the fact that the Excess Profits Tax is collected from the principal of the group. The group is to all intents and purposes treated as one and when a company leaves a group all that happens is that the right to earn that allowance by the carrying out of those repairs, ceases, because that group has not carried out the repairs. It is all conditional on the repairs being carried out. That leads to the proposition I advanced earlier, that it would be entirely undesirable if one group could have the right to enjoy the allowance or not have the right according to whether or not a subsequent owner of the company which was a member of that group decided on his own volition, and for reasons which he thought good, to carry out repairs or not. For these reasons, in addition to those which I gave earlier, I ask the House to reject the Amendment.

Question put, "That those words he there inserted in the Bill."

The House divided: Ayes, 116; Noes, 265.

Division No. 251.] AYES. [18.25 p.m.
Allen, Lt.-Col. Sir W. (Armagh) Darling, Sir W. Y. Hope, Lord J.
Amory, D. Heathcoat Digby, Maj. S. W. Howard, Hon. A.
Assheton, Rr. Hon. R. Dodds-Parker, A. D. Hurd, A.
Aster, Hon. M. Donner, Sqn.-Ldr. P. W. Hutchison, Lt.-Cm. Clark (E'b'rgh W.)
Baldwin, A. E. Drayson, Capl. G. B. Jeffreys, General Sir G.
Beamish, Maj. T. V. H. Drewe, C. Joynson-Hicks, Lt.-Cdr. Hon. L W
Beechman, N. A. Eccles, D. M. Kingsmill, Lt.-Col. W. H.
Bennett, Sir P. Eden, Rt. Hon. A. Lambert, Hon. G.
Birch, Nigel Fleming, Sqn.-Ldr. E. L Lancaster, Col. C. G.
Bower, N. Fletcher, W. (Bury) Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H.
Boyd-Carpenter, J. A. Foster, J. G. (Northwich) Linstead, H. N.
Braithwaite, Lt.-Comdr. J. G. Gage, Lt.-Col. C. Lipson. D. L.
Bromley-Davenport, Lt.-Col. W Galbraith, Cmdr. T. D. Low, Brig. A. R. W.
Buchan-Hepburn, P. G. T, Glossop, C. W. H. Lucas, Major Sir J.
Butcher, H. W. Gridley, Sir A. Lucas-Tooth, Sir H.
Carson, E. Grimston, R. V. MacAndrew, Col. Sir C.
Challen, C. Hannon, Sir P. (Moseley) Mackeson Lt.-Col. H. R.
Clarke, Col. R. S. Hare, Lieut.-Col. Hon. J. H. (W'db'ge) Macpherson, Maj. N. (Dumfries)
Clifton-Brown, Lt.-Col. G. Harvey, Air-Comdre. A. V. Maitland, Comdr. J. W.
Conant, Maj. R. J. E. Headlam, Lieut.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir C Mannmgham-Buller, R. E.
Crookshank, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. F. C. Hogs, Hon. Q. Marlowe, A. A. H.
Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E. Holmes, Sir J. Stanley (Harwich) Marples, A. E.
Marshall, D. (Bodmin) Raikes, H. V. Thorp, Lt.-Col. R. A. F.
Marshall, S. H. (Sutton) Rayner, Brig. R Touche, G. C.
Maude, J. C. Renton, D. Turton, R. H.
Medlicott, F. Robinson, Wing-Comdr. Roland Vane, W. M T.
Mellor, Sir J. Ross, Sir R. Wakefield, Sir W. W.
Molson, A. H. E. Sanderson, Sir F. Walker-Smith, D.
Morris-Jonas, Sir H. Shephard, S. (Newark) Ward, Hon. G. R.
Morrison, Maj. J. G. (Salisbury) Shepherd, W. S. (Bucklow) Watt, Sir G. S. Harvie
Neven-Spence, Sir B. Smiles, Lt.-Col. Sir W. Wheatley, Colonel M. J.
Orr-Ewing, I. L. Smith, E. P. (Ashford) White, J. B. (Canterbury)
Osborne, C. Spearman, A. C. M. Williams, C. (Torquay)
Peake, Rt. Hon. O. Stanley, Rt. Hon. O. Williams, Gerald (Tonbridge)
Peto, Brig. C. H. M. Stewart, J. Henderson (Fife, E.) Willoughby de Eresby, Lord
Pickthorn, K. Stoddart-Scott, Col. M. York, C
Pitman, I. J. Stuart, Rt. Hon. J. (Moray)
Ponsonby, Col. C. E. Teeling, William TELLERS FOR THE AYES
Poole, O. B. S. (Oswestry) Thorneycroft, G. E. P. (Monmouth) Sir Arthur Young and
Prescott, Stanley Thornton-Kemsley, C. N. Mr. Studholme
NOES.
Adams, Richard (Balham) Deer, G. Levy, B. W.
Adams, W. T. (Hammersmith, South) Diamond, J. Lewis, A. W. J. (Upton)
Alexander, Rt. Hon. A. V. Debbie, W. Lindgren, G. S.
Allen, A. C. (Bosworth) Dodds, N. N Lyne, A. W.
Allen, Scholefield (Crewe) Donovan, T. McAdam, W.
Alpass, J. H. Dugdale, J (W. Bromwich) McEntee, V. La T
Anderson, A. (Motherwell) Dumpleton, C. W. McGhee, H. G.
Attewell, H. C. Durbin, E. F. M. Mack, J. D.
Austin, H. L. Dye, S. McKay, J. (Wallsend)
Awbery, S. S. Ede, Rt. Hon. J C. McLeavy, F.
Ayles, W. H Edwards, Rt. Hon. Sir C. (Bedwellty) Macpherson, T. (Romford)
Ayrton Gould, Mrs. B Edwards, John (Blackburn) Mainwaring, W. H.
Bacon, Miss A. Fletcher, E. G. M. (Islington, E.) Mallalieu, J. P. W.
Balfour, A. Follick, M. Manning, Mrs. L. (Epping)
Barstow, P. G Foot, M. M. Marquand, H. A.
Barton, C. Forman, J. C. Marshall, F. (Brightside)
Battley, J. R Freeman, Maj. J. (Watford) Mathers, G.
Bechervaise, A. E. Gaitskell, H. T. N. Medland, H. M.
Bellenger, F J. Ganley, Mrs. C. S. Messer, F.
Benson, G. George, Lady M. Lloyd (Anglesey) Middleton, Mrs. L
Bing, G. H. C Gibbins, J. Mikardo, Ian
Binns, J. Gibson, C. W Millington, Wing-Comdr. E. R
Blenkinsop, Capt. A Gilzean, A. Mitchison, Maj. G. R.
Boardman, H. Glanville, J. E. (Consett) Monslow, W.
Bowen, R. Goodrich, H. E. Moody, A. S.
Bowles, F. G (Nunsaton) Gordon-Walker, P. C. Morgan, Dr. H. B.
Braddock, Mrs. E. M. (L'pl, Exch'ge) Greenwood, Rt. Hon. A. (Wakefield) Morris, Lt.-Col. H. (Sheffield, C.)
Braddock, T. (Mitcham) Greenwood, A. W. J. (Heywood) Morris, P. (Swansea, W.)
Brook, D. (Halifax) Grenfell, D. R. Morrison, Rt. Hon. H. (Lewisham, E.)
Brooks, T. J. (Rothwell) Griffiths, D. (Rother Valley) Mort, D. L.
Brown, George (Belper) Gunter, Capt. R. J Moyle, A.
Brown, T. J. (Ince) Guy, W. H. Murray, J D.
Buchanan, G. Hale, Leslie Nally, W.
Burden T. W. Hall, W. G. (Colne Valley) Neal, H. (Claycross)
Burke, W. A. Hamilton, Lieut.-Col. R. Nichol, Mrs. M. E. (Bradford, N.)
Callaghan, James Hannan, W. (Maryhill) Nicholls, H. R. (Stratford)
Castle, Mrs. B. A. Hardy, E. A. Noel-Buxton, Lady
Chamberlain, R. A Harrison, J. O'Brien, T.
Champion, A. J. Hastings, Dr. Somerville Oldfield, W. H
Chater, D. Haworth, J. Oliver, G. H,
Chetwynd, Capt. G. R Henderson, A. (Kingswinford) Paget, R. T.
Clitherow, Dr. R. Henderson, Joseph (Ardwick) Paling, Rt. Hon. Wilfred (Wentworth)
Cluse, W. S. Hicks, G. Palmer, A M. F.
Cobb, F. A. Hobson, C. R. Pargiter, G. A.
Cocks, F. S. Holman, P. Parkin, Flt.-Lieut. B. T.
Collick, P. Holmes, H. E. (Hemsworth) Paton, Mrs. F. (Rushcliffe)
Collindridge, F House, G. Paton, J. (Norwich)
Collins, V. J. Hoy, J. Peart, Capt. T. F.
Colman, Miss G. M. Hudson, J. H. (Ealing, W.) Perrins, W.
Comyns, Dr. L. Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.) Platts-Mills, J. F. F
Cooper, Wing Comdr. G. Irving, W. J. Porter, G. (Leeds)
Corbet, Mrs. F. K. (Camb'well, N.W.) Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A. Pritt, D. N.
Corlett, Dr. J. Jegar, G. (Winchester) Proctor, W. T.
Cove, W. G. Jones, D. T. (Hartlepools) Pursey, Cmdr. H.
Crawley, Fll.-Lieut. A. Jones, J. H (Bolton) Randall, H. E.
Crossman, R. H. S. Jones, P. Asterley (Hitchin) Ranger, J.
Daggar, G. Keenan, W. Rees-Williams, D. R.
Daines, P. Kenyon, C. Reeves, J.
Dalton, Rt. Hon. H. Key, C. W. Reid, T. (Swindon)
Davies, Edward (Burslem) Kinley, J. Rhodes, H.
Davies, Clement (Montgomery) Kirby, B. V. Richards, R
Davies, Ernest (Enfteld) Lawson, Rt. Hon J. J Robens, A.
Davies, Harold (Leek) Leonard, W. Roberts, Emrys (Merioneth)
Davits, R. J. (Westhoughton) Leslie, J. R. Roberts, Goronwy (Caernarvonshire)
Robertson, J. J. (Berwick) Steele, T. Weitzman, D.
Rogers, G. H. R. Stewart, Capt. Michael (Fulham, E.) Wells, P. L. (Faversham)
Royle, C. Strauss, G. R. (Lambeth, N.) Wells, W. T. (Walsall)
Sargood, R. Taylor, H. B. (Mansfield) White, H. (Derbyshire, N.E.)
Scollan, T. Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth) Whiteley, Rt. Hon. W.
Scott-Elliot, W. Taylor, Dr. S. (Barnet) Wigg, Col. G. E.
Segal, Dr. S. Thomas, I. O. (Wrakin) Wilkes, Maj. L.
Shackleton, Wing-Cdr. E. A. A. Thomas, John R. (Dover) Wilkins, W. A.
Sharp, Lt.-Col. G. M Thomas, George (Cardiff) Willey, F. T. (Sunderland)
Shurmer, P. Thorneycroft, H. (Clayton) Willey, O. G. (Cleveland)
Silverman, S. S. (Nelson) Thurtle, E. Williams, D. J. (Neath)
Simmons, C. J. Tiffany, S. Williams, J. L. (Kelvingrove)
Skeffington, A. M. Titterington, M. F. Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley)
Skeffington-Lodge, T. C. Tolley, L. Williams, W. R. (Heston)
Skinnard, F. W. Tomlinson, Rt. Hon. G. Williamson, T.
Smith, Capt. C. (Colchester) Turner-Samuels, M. Willis, E.
Smith, H. N. (Nottingham, S.) Ungoed-Thomas, L. Wills, Mrs. E. A.
Smith, S. H. (Hull, S.W.) Viant, S. P. Wilson, J. H.
Smith, T. (Normanton) Wadsworth, G. Wise, Major F. J
Snow, Capt. J. W. Walkden, E. Woodburn, A.
Solley, L. J. Walker, G. H. Woods, G. S.
Sorensen, R. W. Wallace, G. D. (Chislehurst) Wyatt, Maj. W
Soskice, Maj. Sir F Wallace, H. W. (Waithamstow, E.) Yates, V. F.
Sparks, J. A. Warbey, W. N.
Stamford, W Watkins, T. E. TELLERS FOR THE NOES:
Mr. Pearson and Mr. Coldrick
Sir A. Gridley

I beg to move, in page 29, line 13, at the end, to insert: in any claim by the body corporate and shall he attributed to the principal company of the group. I do not propose to add to what I have already said, in view of your suggestion, Mr. Deputy-Speaker, that these Amendments should be considered together.

Sir P. Bennett

I beg to second the Amendment.

Question put, ''That those words be there inserted in the Bill."

The House divided: Ayes, 114; Noes, 267.

Division No. 252.] AYES. [8.35 p.m.
Allen, Lt.-Col. Sir W. (Armagh) Hare, Lieut.-Col. Hn. J. H. (W'db'ge) Peake, Rt. Hon. O.
Amory, D Heathcoat Harvey, Air-Comdre. A. V. Peto, Brig. C. H. M.
Assheton, Rt. Hon. R. Headlam, Lieut.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir C. Pickthorn, K.
Astor, Hon.M. Hinchingbrooke, Viscount Pitman, I. J.
Baldwin, A. E. Hogg, Hon. Q. Ponsonby, Col. C. E.
Beamish, Maj. T. V. H Holmes, Sir J. Stanley (Harwich) Poole, O. B. S. (Oswestry)
Beechman, N. A. Hope, Lord J. Prescott. Stanley
Bennett, Sir P. Howard, Hon. A Raikes, H. V.
Birch, Nigel Hudson, Rt. Hon. R. S. (Southport) Rayner, Brig. R.
Bower, N. Hurd, A. Renton, D.
Boyd-Carpenter, J. A. Hutchison, Lt.-Cm. Clark (E'b'rgh W.) Robinson, Wing-Comdr. Roland
Braithwaite, Lt.-Comdr. J. G. Jeffreys, General Sir G. Ross, Sir R.
Bromley-Davenport, Lt.-Col. W. Joynson-Hicks, Lt.-Cdr. Hon. L. W Sanderson, Sir F
Buchan-Hepburn, P. G. T Kingsmill, Lt.-Col. W. H. Shephard, S. (Newark)
Butcher, H. W. Lambert, Hon. G. Smiles, Lt.-Col. Sir W.
Carson, E. Lancaster, Col. C. G. Spearman, A. C. M.
Challen, C. Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H Stanley, Rt. Hon, O.
Clarke, Col. R. S. Linstead, H. N. Stoddart-Scott, Col. M.
Clifton-Brown, Lt.-Col. G. Lipson, D. L. Stuart, Rt. Hon. J. (Moray)
Conant, Maj. R. J. E. Low, Brig. A. R. W Teeling, William
Crookshank, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. F. C Lucas, Major Sir J. Thorneycroft, G. E. P. (Monmouth)
Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E- Lucas-Tooth, Sir H. Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.
Darling, Sir W. Y. MacAndrew, Col. Sir C. Thorp, Lt-Col. R. A. F
Digby, Maj. S. W. Macdonald, Capt. Sir P. (I of Wight) Touche, G. C.
Dodds-Parker, A. D. Mackeson, Lt.-Col. H. R. Turton, R. H.
Donner, Sqn.-Ldr. P. W Macpherson, Maj. N. (Dumfries) Vane, W M. T.
Drayson, Capt. G. B. Maitland, Comdr. J. W. Wakefield, Sir W. W
Drewe, C. Manningham-Buller, R. E. Walker-Smith, D.
Eccles. D. M. Marlowe, A. A. H Ward, Hon G. R.
Eden, Rt. Hon. A. Marples, A. E. Watt, Sir G. S Harvie
Fleming, Sqn.-Ldr. E. L. Marshall, D. (Bodmin) Wheatley, Colonel M. J.
Fletcher, W. (Bury) Marshall, S. H. (Sutton) White, J. B. (Canterbury)
Foster, J. G. (Northwich) Maude, J, C Williams, C. (Torquay)
Gage, Lt.-Col. C. Madlicott, F. Williams, Gerald (Tonbridge)
Galbraith, Cmdr. T. D Mellor, Sir J. Willoughby de Eresby, Lord
Glossop, C. W. H. Molson, A. H. E. York, C.
Gridley, Sir A. Morrison, Maj. J. G. (Salisbury)
Grimston, R. V Neven-Spence, Sir B. TELLERS FOR THE AYES
Hannon, Sir P. (Moseley) Osborne, C. Sir Arthur Young and
Mr. Studholme
NOES
Adams, Richard (Balham) Gaitskell, H. T. N Neal, H (Claycross)
Adams, W. T. (Hammersmith, South) Ganley, Mrs. C. S. Nichol, Mrs. M. E. (Bradford, N.)
Alexander, Rt. Hon. A. V. George, Lady M. Lloyd (Anglesey) Nicholls, H. R. (Stratford)
Allen, A. C. (Bosworth) Gibbins, J. Noel-Buxton, Lady
Allen, Scholelield (Crewe) Gibson, C. W O'Brien, T.
Alpass, J. H. Gilzean, A. Oldfield, W. H.
Anderson, A. (Motherwell) Glanville, J. E. (Consett) Oliver, G. H
Attewell, H. C. Goodrich, H. E. Paget, R. T.
Austin, H. L Gordon-Walker, P. C. Paling, Rt. Hon Wilfred (Wentworth)
Awbery, S. S. Greenwood, Rt. Hon. A. (Wakefield) Palmer, A. M. F.
Ayles, W. H. Greenwood, A. W. J. (Heywood) Pargiter, G. A.
Ayrton Gould, Mrs. B Grenfell, D. R. Parkin, Flt.-Lieut. B. T
Bacon, Miss A. Griffiths, D, (Rother Valley) Paton, Mrs. F. (Rushcliffe)
Balfour, A. Gunter, Capt. R. J. Paton, J. (Norwich)
Barstow, P. G Guy, W H. Peart, Capt. T. F
Barton, C. Hale, Leslie Perrins, W.
Battley, J. R. Hall, W. G. (Colne Valley) Platts-Mills, J. F. F.
Bechervaise, A. E Hamilton, Lieut.-Col R. Porter, G. (Leeds)
Benson, G. Hannan, W. (Maryhill) Pritt, D. N.
Bing, G. H. C. Hardy, E. A. Proctor, W. T.
Binns, J. Harrison, J Pursey, Cmdr. H.
Blenkinsop, Capt A Hastings, Dr. Somerville Randall, H. E.
Boardman, H Haworth, J. Ranger, J.
Bowen, R. Henderson, A. (Kingswinford) Rees-Williams, D R.
Bowles, F. G. (Nuneaton) Henderson, Joseph (Ardwick) Reeves, J.
Braddock, Mrs. E. M. (L'pl. Exch'ge) Hicks. G Reid, T. (Swindon)
Braddock, T. (Mitcham) Hobson, C. R Rhodes, H.
Brook, D. (Halifax) Holman P. Richards, R
Brooks, T. J. (Rothwell) Holmes, H. E. (Hemsworth) Robens, A.
Brown, George (Belper) House, G. Roberts, Emrys (Merioneth)
Brown, T. J (Ince) Hoy, J, Roberts, Goronwy (Caernarvonshire)
Buchanan, G, Hudson, J. H. (Ealing, W.) Robertson, J. J. (Berwick)
Burden. T. W. Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.) Rogers, G. H. R.
Burke, W. A. Irving, W. J. Royle, C.
Butler, H. W. (Hackney, S) Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A. Sargood, R.
Callaghan, James Jeger, G. (Winchester) Scollan, T.
Castle, Mrs. B. A. Jones, D. T. (Hartlepools) Scott-Elliot, W.
Chamberlain, R. A. Jones, J. H. (Bolton) Segal, Dr. S.
Champion, A. J. Jones, P. Asterley (Hitchin) Shackleton, Wing-Cdr. E A. A
Chater, D. Keenan, W. Sharp, Lt.-Col. G. M.
Chetwynd, Capt. G. R Kenyon, C. Shurmer, P
Clitherow, Dr. R Key, C. W. Silverman, S. S. (Nelson)
Cluse, W. S. Kinley, J. Simmons, C. J.
Cobb, F. A. Kirby, B. V. Skeffington, A. M.
Cocks F. S Lawson, Rt. Hon. J. J. Skeffington-Lodge, T. C
Coldrick, W. Lee, F. (Hulme) Skinnard, F. W.
Collick, P. Leonard, W. Smith, Capt. C. (Colchester)
Collindridge, F Leslie, J. R. Smith, H. N. (Nottingham, S.)
Collins, V. J. Levy, B. W. Smith, S. H. (Hull, S.W.)
Colman, Miss G. M Lewis, A W. J. (Upton) Smith, T. (Normanton)
Comyns, Dr. L. Lindgren G. S. Snow, Capt. J. W.
Cooper, Wing-Comdr. G. Lyne, A. W. Selley, L. J.
Corbet, Mrs. F. K. (Camb'well. N.W.) McAdam, W. Sorensen, R. W
Corlett, Dr. J. McEntee, V. La T Soskice, Maj Sir F
Cove, W. G. McGhee, H. G Sparks, J. A.
Crossman, R. H. S. Mack, J. D. Stamford, W.
Daggar, G. McKay, J. (Wallsend) Steele, T.
Daines, P. McLeavy, F. Strauss, G. R. (Lambeth, N.)
Dalton, Rt. Hon. H. Macpherson, T. (Romford) Taylor, H. B. (Mansfield)
Davies, Edward (Burslem) Mainwaring, W. H. Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth)
Davies, Clement (Montgomery) Mallalieu, J. P. W Taylor, Dr. S. (Barnet)
Davies, Ernest (Enfield) Manning, Mrs. L. (Epping) Thomas, I. O, (Wrekin)
Davies, Harold (Leek) Marquand, H. A. Thomas, John R. (Dover)
Davies, R. J. (Westhonghton) Marshall, F. (Brightside) Thomas, George (Cardiff)
Deer, G. Martin, J. H. Thorneycroft, H. (Clayton)
Diamond, J. Mathers, G. Thurtle, E.
Dobbie, W. Medland, H. M. Tiffany, S.
Dodds, N. N Messer, F. Titterington, M. F.
Donovan, T. Middleton, Mrs. L. Tolley, L.
Dugdale, J. (W Bromwich) Mikardo, Ian Tomlinson, Rt. Hon. G
Dumpleton, C. W. Mitchison. Maj. G. R. Turner-Samuels, M.
Durbin, E. F. M. Monslow. W. Ungoed-Thomas, L.
Dye, S. Moody, A. S. Viant, S. P.
Ede, Rt. Hon. J. C. Morgan, Dr. H. B. Wadsworth, G
Edwards, Rt. Hon. Sir C. (Bodwellty) Morris, Lt.-Col. H. (Sheffield, C.) Walkden, E
Edwards, John (Blackburn) Morris, P. (Swansea, W.) Walker, G. H.
Edwards, W. J. (Whitechapel) Morrison, Rt. Hon. H. (Lewisham, E.) Wallace, G. D. (Chislehurst)
Fletcher, E. G. M. (Islington, E.) Mort, D. L. Wallace, H. W. (Walthamstow, E.)
Follick, M. Moyle, A. Warbey, W N.
Foot, M. M. Murray, J. D. Watkins, T. E.
Forman, J. C. Nally, W. Weitzman, D.
Freeman, Mai. J. (Watford) Naylor, T. E. Wells, P. L. (Faversham)
Wells, W. T. (Walsall) Williams, D. J. (Neath) Wise, Major F. J.
White, H. (Derbyshire, N.E.) Williams, J. L. (Kelvingrove) Woodburn, A.
Whiteley, Rt. Hon. W Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley) Woods, G. S.
Wigs, Col. G. E. Williams. W. R (Heston) Wyatt, Maj. W
Wilkes, Maj. L. Williamson, T Yates, V. F.
Wilkins, W. A. Willis, E.
Willey, F. T (Sunderland) Wills, Mrs. E. A TELLERS FOR THE NOES
Willey, O. G. (Cleveland) Wilson, J. H. Mr. Pearson and
Captain Michael Stewart
Sir A. Gridley

I beg to move, in page 29, line 22, at the end, to insert: in any claim by the body corporate and shall be attributed to the principal company of the group.

8.45 p.m.

Mr. C. Williams

I beg to second the Amendment.

I quite realise that it has been agreed that there shall be no discussion, but this is a most important Amendment. I regret the pathetic incompetence shown in the answers we have had on this series of Amendments.

Hon. Members

Speech.

Mr. Deputy-Speaker

It was agreed that we should have the discussion on the first of these three Amendments.

Mr. Williams

I merely added that I regretted —

Hon. Members

Order.

Mr. Deputy-Speaker

The hon. Gentleman is either making a speech or not making a speech. I say that he is making a speech.

Mr. Williams

I am not making a speech; I have said what was necessary to emphasise the point of incompetence.

Question put, "That those words be there inserted in the Bill."

The House divided: Ayes, 120; Noes, 269.

Division No. 253] AYES [8.45 p.m.
Allen, Lt.-Col. Sir W. (Armagh) Harvey, Air-Comdre. A. V Peto, Brig. C. H. M
Amory, D. Heathcoat Headlam, Lieut.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir C Pickthorn, K.
Assheton, Rt. Hon. R Hinchingbrooke, Viscount Pitman, I. J.
Astor, Hon. M. Hogg, Hon. Q. Ponsonby, Col. C. E
Baldwin. A. E. Holmes, Sir J. Stanley (Harwich) Poole, O. B. S. (Oswestry)
Beamish, Maj. T. V. H Hope, Lord J. Prescott, Stanley
Beechman, N. A Howard, Hon. A. Raikes, H. V.
Bennett, Sir P Hudson, Rt. Hop. R. S. (Southport) Reed, Sir S. (Aylesbury)
Birch, Nigel Hurd, A. Renton, D.
Bower, N. Hutchison, Lt-Cm. Clark (E'b'rgh W) Robertson, Sir D. (Streatham)
Boyd-Carpenter, J. A. Jeffreys, General Sir G. Robinson, Wing-Comdr Rolano
Braithwaite, Lt,-Comdr. J. G. Joynson-Hicks, Lt.-Cdr. Hon L W Ross, Sir R.
Bromley-Davenport, Lt.-Col. W Kingsmill, Lt.-Col. W. H. Sanderson, Sir F.
Buchan-Hepburn, P. G. T. Lambert, Hon. G. Shephard, S. (Newark)
Butcher, H. W. Lancaster, Col. C. G. Shepherd, W. S. (Bucklow)
Butler, Rt. Hon. R. A. (Sffr'n Wld'n) Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H Smiles, Lt.-Col. Sir W
Carson, E. Linstead, H. N. Spearman, A. C. M.
Challen, C. Lipson, D. L. Stanley, Rt. Hon. O
Clarke, Col. R. S. Low, Brig. A. R. W. Stewart, J. Henderson (Fife, E.)
Clifton-Brown, Lt.-Col. G Lucas, Major Sir J. Stoddart-Scott, Col. M.
Conant, Maj. R. J. E. Lucas-Tooth, Sir H. Stuart, Rt. Hon. J. (Moray)
Crookshank, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. F. C MacAndrew, Col. Sir C. Teeling, William
Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E. Macdonald, Capt. Sir P. (I. of Wight) Thorneycroft, G. E. P. (Monmouth)
Darling, Sir W. Y. Mackeson, Lt.-Col. H. R Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.
Digby, Maj. S. W. Macpherson, Maj. N. (Dumfries) Thorp, Lt.-Col. R. A. F
Dodds-Parker, A. O. Maitland, Comdr. J. W. Touche, G. C
Donner, Sqn.-Ldr. P. W. Manningham-Buller, R E Turton, R. H.
Drayson, G. B. Marlowe, A. A. H Vane, W. M. T.
Drewe, C. Marples, A. E. Wakefield, Sir W W
Eccles, D. M. Marshall, D. (Bodmin) Walker-Smith, D.
Eden, Rt. Hon. A. Marshall, S H. (Sutton) Ward, Hon. G. R.
Fleming, Sqn.-Ldr. E. L. Maude, J. C Watt, Sir G. S. Harv
Fletcher, W. (Bury) Medlicott, F. Whcatlcy, Colonel M. J.
Foster, J. G (Northwich) Mollor, Sir J. White, J. B. (Canterbury)
Gags, Lt.-Col C. Molson, A. H. E. Williams, C. (Torquay)
Galbraith, Cmdr. T D. Morris-Jones, Sir H. Williams, Gerald (Tonbridge)
Glossop, C. W. H Morrison, Maj. J. G. (Salisbury) Willoughby de Eresby, Lord
Gridley, Sir A. Neven-Spence, Sir B. York, C.
Grimston, R. V. Orr-Ewing, I. L
Hannon Sir P. (Moseley) Osborne, C. TELLERS FOR THE AYES
Hare, Lieut-Col. Hn. J. H. (W'db'ge) Peake, Rt. Hon. O. Sir Arthur Young and
Mr Studholme
NOES
Adams, Richard (Balham) Gaitskell, H. T. N Neal, H. (Claycross)
Adams, W. T. (Hammersmith, South) Ganley, Mrs. C. S. Nichol, Mrs. M. E. (Bradford, N.)
Alexander, Rt. Hon. A V. George, Lady M. Lloyd (Anglesey) Nicholls, H. R. (Stratford)
Allen, A. C. (Bosworth) Gibbins, J. Noel-Buxton, Lady
Allen, Scholefleld (Crewe) Gibson, C. W O'Brien, T.
Alpass, J. H. Gilzean, A. Oldfield, W. H
Anderson, A. (Motherwell) Glanville, J. E. (Consett) Oliver, G. H.
Attewell, H. C Goodrich, H. E. Paget, R. T.
Austin, H L. Gordon-Walker, P. C. Paling, Rt. Hon. Wilfred (Wentworth)
Awbery, S. S. Greenwood, Rt. Hon. A. (Wakefield) Palmer, A. M. F.
Ayles, W. H, Greenwood, A. W. J. (Heywood) Pargiter, G. A.
Ayrton Gould, Mrs. B. Grenfell, D. R. Parkin, Flt.-Lieut. B. T.
Bacon, Miss A. Griffiths, D. (Rother Valley) Paton, Mrs. F. (Rushcliffe)
Balfour, A. Gunter, Capt. R. J Paton, J. (Norwich)
Barstow, P. G Guy, W. H. Pearson, A.
Barton, C. Hale, Leslie Peart, Capt. T F.
Battley, J. R. Hall, W G. (Colne Valley) Perrins, W.
Bechervaise, A E Hamilton, Lieut.-Col. R Plaits-Mills, J. F. F.
Benson, G Hannan, W. (Maryhill) Porter, G. (Leeds).
Bing, G. H. C. Hardy, E. A. Pritt, D. N.
Binns, J Harrison, J. Proctor, W. T.
Blackburn, A. R. Hastings, Dr. Somerville Pursey, Cmdr. H
Blenkinsop, Capt. A Haworth, J. Randall, H. E.
Boardman, H. Henderson A. (Kingswinford) Ranger, J.
Bowen, R. Hicks, G. Rees-Williams, D. R.
Bowles, F. G. (Nuneaton) Hobson, C. R Reeves, J.
Braddock, Mrs. E. M. (L'p'l, Exch'ge) Holman, P. Reid, T. (Swindon)
Braddock, T. (Mitcham) Holmes, H. E. (Hemsworth) Rhodes, H.
Brook, D. (Halifax) House, G. Richards, R.
Brooks, T. J. (Rothwell) Hey, J. Robens, A.
Brown, George (Belper) Hudson, J. H. (Ealing, W.) Roberts, Emrys (Merioneth)
Brown, T, J. (Ince) Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.) Roberts, Goronwy (Caernarvonshire)
Buchanan, G. Irving, W. J. Robertson, J. J. (Berwick)
Burden. T. W. Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A Rogers, G. H. R.
Burke, W. A. Jeger, G. (Winchester) Royle, C.
Butler, H. W. (Hackney, S.) Jones, D T. (Hartlepools) Sargood, R.
Cailaghan, James Jones, J. H. (Bolton) Scollan, T.
Castle, Mrs. B. A. Jones, P. Asterley (Hitchin) Scott-Elliot, W
Chamberlain, R. A Keenan, W. Shackleton, Wing-Cdr E A. A
Champion, A. J Kenyon C. Sharp, Lt.-Col G. M.
Chater, D. Key, C. W. Shawcross, C. N. (Widnes)
Chetwynd, Capt. G. R. Kinley, J. Shurmer, P
Ciltherow, Dr. R Kirby, B. V. Silverman, S. S. (Nelson)
Cluse, W. S. Lawson, Rt. Han. J. J Simmons, C. J.
Cobb, F. A. Lee, F. (Hulme) Skeffington, A. M
Cocks, F. S. Leonard, W. Skeffington-Lodge, F C.
Coldrick, W. Leslie, J. R. Skinnard, F. W.
Collick, P. Levy, B. W. Smith, Capt. C (Colchester)
Collindridge, F Lewis, A. W. J. (Upton) Smith, H N. (Nottingham, S.)
Collins, V. J. Lindgren, G. S. Smith, S. H. (Hull, S.W.)
Colman, Miss G. M. Lyne, A. W. Smith, T. (Normanton)
Comyns, Dr. L. McAdam, W. Snow, Capt, J. W.
Cooper, Wing-Comdr. G McEnlee, V. La T Solley, L. J.
Corbet, Mrs. F. K. (Camb'well, N.W.) McGhee, H. G Sorensen, R. W.
Corlett, Dr. J. Mack, J D. Soskice, Maj. Sir F
Cove, W. G. McKay, J. (Wallsend) Sparks, J. A
Crossman, R. H. S Maclean, N. (Gevan) Stamford, W.
Daggar, G. McLeavy. F. Steele, T.
Daines, P. Macpherson, T. (Romford) Strauss, G. R. (Lambeth, N.)
Dalton, Rt. Hon. H. Mainwaring, W. H. Taylor, H, B. (Mansfield)
Davies, Edward (Burslem) Mallalieu, J. P. W. Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth)
Davies, Clement (Montgomery) Manning, Mrs. L. (Epping) Taylor, Dr. S. (Barnet)
Davies, Ernest (Enfteld) Marquand, H. A. Thomas, I. O. (Wrekin)
Davies, Harold (Leek) Marshall, F. (Brightside) Thomas, John R. (Dover)
Davies, R. J. (Westhoughton) Martin, J H Thomas, George (Cardiff)
Deer, G. Mathers, G, Thorneycroft, H. (Clayton)
Diamond, J Medland, H M. Thurtle, E.
Dobbie, W. Messer, F Tiffany, S.
Dodds, N. N Middleton, Mrs. L Titterington, M. F.
Denovan, T. Mikardo, Ian Tolley, L.
Dugdale, J. (W. Bromwich) Millington, Wing-Comdr. E. R Tomlinson, Rt. Hon. G.
Dumpleton, C. W Mitchison, Maj G. R Turner-Samuels, M.
Durbin, E. F. M. Monslow, W Ungoed-Thomas, L
Dye, S. Moody, A. S Viant, S. P.
Ede, Rt. Hon. J. C. Morgan, Dr. H. B. Wadsworth G.
Edwards, Rt. Hon. Sir C. (Bedwellty) Morris, Ll.-Col. H. (Sheffield, C.) Walkden, E.
Edwards, John (Blackburn) Morris, P (Swansea, W.) Walker, G. H.
Edwards W. J. (Whitechapel) Morrison, Rt Hon. H. (Lewisham, E.) Wallace, G. D. (Chislehurst)
Fletcher, E. G M. (Islington. E.) Mort, D. L. Wallace, H. W. (Walthamstow, E.)
Follick, M. Moyle, A. Warbey, W. N.
Foot, M. M. Murray, J. D. Watkins, T. E.
Forman, J, C. Nally, W. Weitzman, D
Freeman, Maj J. (Watford) Naylor, T. E Wells, P. L. (Faversham)
Wells, W. T. (Walsall) Williams, D. J. (Neath) Woodburn, A.
White, H. (Derbyshire, N.E.) Williams, J. L. (Kelvingrove) Woods, G. S.
Whiteley, Rt. Hon. W. Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley) Wyatt, Maj. W
Wigg, Col. G. E. Williams, W. R. (Heston) Yates, V. F.
Wilkes, Maj. L. Williamson, T.
Wilkins, W. A. Willis, E. TELLERS FOR THE NOES:
Willey, F. T. (Sunderland) Wills, Mrs. E. A. Mr. Joseph Henderson and
Willey. O. G. (Cleveland) Wise, Major F. J. Captain Michael Stewart.
Sir P. Bennett

I beg to move, in page 29, line 22, at the end, to insert: (12) Where, in pursuance of any enactment for the compulsory acquisition of a business or part of a business any assets are transferred to the Crown or to a corporate body created under that enactment or to a local authority designated under that enactment and at the date of the transfer the owner of the business produces to the Commissioners particulars of deferred repairs as defined by Subsection (4) of this Section required to be done to those assets and satisfies them that it was not possible for that work to be done by the date of transfer, the owner shall be deemed to have incurred the estimated cost of executing such deferred repairs in like manner as though he had executed them immediately prior to the date of transfer. This is another question of deferred repairs, but regarded from a totally different angle. Of course, it is admitted that, shall I say, unnatural profits have been made due to the fact that people were unable to charge repairs during the war years. Therefore, the profits on which they paid Excess Profits Tax were swollen to an unreal extent. That is what is being dealt with in Clause 33. The Amendment provides for the deferred repairs which are carried out after the end of the Excess Profits Tax period when repairs are possible; they should be deferred back to the time when they ought to have been undertaken. This will not meet the case of businesses which, in the interim, have been nationalised. Those particular business men who have paid their taxes but will not, through any fault of their own, be continuing their businesses will not have the opportunity, which the Chancellor insists is the duty of the owner, to do the repairs; they will not be allowed.

The Chancellor realised there was a difference between firms of this description and ordinary firms, because he himself said that the nationalisation of industries is a procedure which evidently needs to be treated in an exceptional fashion from the Revenue point of view. Although the Government are clear that it is in the national interest to extend the field of nationalised industries, we do not wish, as a mere by-product of this process, to do injustice to those for whom the right hon. Gentleman has spoken. Taking the Chancellor at his word, we are putting this forward. The business man who has paid his taxes and had his business nationalised, has paid Excess Profits Tax on profits which have been unduly increased by reason of the fact that during the war years he has been unable to carry out the repairs. The Amendment seeks to recognise that position and allow him to charge those wartime repairs, when he would normally have undertaken them. I will say no more now, because I am certain the Chancellor understands the point.

Sir A. Gridley

I beg to second the Amendment.

The first two lines of the Amendment show the narrow issue we seek to cover: Where, in pursuance of any enactment for the compulsory acquisition of a business or part of a business any assets are transferred to the Crown or to a corporate body created under that enactment …. Therefore, this Amendment is confined to those undertakings which are transferred from the present owners to the State, or any body, such as the Coal Board, which may acquire those assets. It hardly seems fair that where one has been prevented from carrying out very necessary repairs during the war years, and certain reserves have been made with the assent of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for that purpose, that one should be in a position not to be credited with the allowances which have been made merely because the undertaking is transferred from a private owner to a public board or to the State. The Amendment speaks for itself and I do not need to go into it any further.

9.0 p.m.

The Solicitor-General

This Amendment involves much the same issues as the last one, and I pointed out in dealing with the last Amendment that this deferred repairs allowance really is a conditional right—conditional upon the repairs being carried out. In exactly the same way, this Clause, if the owner of the undertaking which is nationalised does not carry out the repairs, naturally provides, as a result, that the right to earn the allowance lapses. This is, in other words, an Amendment which stands or falls by the Amendments which the House has just discussed. The considerations are very much the same. I would, however, add this, because I think that this is a circumstance of which hon. Gentlemen opposite may have lost sight: if the owner of an undertaking does have it nationalised, in point of fact he does not do so badly. It is not as if he altogether loses any allowance, because I am certain that the hon. Gentleman who moved the Amendment must remember the provisions of paragraph (3) of the Seventh Schedule to the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1939. The hon. Gentleman shakes his head, but we have referred to it before in the course of the Debate. I should like also to refer to paragraph (3) of the Eighth Schedule to the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1945, which supplements it. To put the thing in a nutshell, that provides for what is known as an exceptional depreciation allowance—which we have frequently referred to in the course of this Debate. The exceptional depreciation allowance, owing to circumstances connected with the war, is a right which the owner of the enterprise which is nationalised will enjoy. When the enterprise is taken over, that will constitute an event within the meaning of the Seventh Schedule to the 1939 Act which will crystallise his right to exceptional depreciation. If he gets that, at least it will go a good way to indemnifying him. Not only that, but because of the provision in the 1945 Act to which I have just referred, paragraph (3) of the Eighth Schedule to the Finance (No. 2) Act, 1945, the exceptional depreciation allowance will include the cost of repairs which have not been done, subject to a certain time limit, into which I need not go. Ordinarily, therefore, when the owner of an enterprise has it nationalised, although it is true that he will not have a deferred repairs allowance, he will have the exceptional depreciation allowance, which will include the great bulk of the repairs which have not been carried out.

Hon. Gentlemen will have noticed, when reading through these various Finance Acts, that a great many Sections in them prevent the relief granted by way of exceptional depreciation and by way of allowance for deferred repairs from overlapping. They will have noticed, over and over again, that when the Acts refer to one they say that it shall be instead of the other. The two do overlap, and although they lose the deferred repairs allowance they will, as I say, have something which will come very near to compensating them for that loss. They really will not be very hardly treated. It would be impossible, and quite contrary to the spirit of the E.P.T. legislation to allow them, instead of the exceptional depreciation allowance, a deferred repairs allowance. It would mean the owner of the business would be getting an allowance, or not getting an allowance, according to whether the State, or the corporation which took over the nationalised enterprise, were carrying out the repairs or not The owner's right would vary, therefore, according to the action or to the will of his successor, which is entirely undesirable from the commercial point of view. His right depends on his carrying out repairs. If he carries out repairs, he carries out the condition which converts his potential right to allowance to an actual right. Therefore, if these repairs are not carried out by the time the enterprise is nationalised, he is to have an exceptional depreciation allowance extended to cover the repairs he has not carried out, in the way I have indicated. For these reasons, in addition to those I gave when arguing against the last Amendment, I would ask the House, as a logical consequence, to negative this Amendment.

Mr. I. J. Pitman

This is, obviously, a highly complicated matter, and it seems to me that the best way of handling it is to try to deal with concrete cases. As a concrete case, may I suggest a small transport man with his own small fleet of lorries? As I understand the situation, he has been showing but not really earning a greater profit during the war years, by reason of the fact that he has been using up the capital of his lorries by wearing and tearing them, through his inability to get the repairs done and he ends up the war with a potential claim to a refund of E.P.T. if and when he carries out these repairs, which are clearly overdue on these lorries. He then, before he can do so, is, under our hypothesis, taken over as a going concern. It should be noted that it is not through any fault of his that he has not done and cannot do his repairs; it is because of the state of the repairing market, and he just cannot get the job done. Moreover, that being so, I do not see how this exceptional depreciation allowance comes into the picture at all. I do not see that exceptional depreciation in a past year, which is over and gone, comes in, unless depreciation means, in this context, something quite different from the normal meaning attached to "depreciation." Depreciation is something by which one's profits of a past year have, in fact, been reduced, and it does not seem to me that this can be at all a benefit to anybody when he is nationalised. It seems to me that the case against this Amendment has not been adequately put forward. If the hon. and learned Solicitor-General had said that he wished to alter this Amendment, so that it was a case of satisfying somebody that the repairs would have been done if the man could only have done them, then that would have been another story; but he is giving us here a flat negative, on what seems to me to be a great hardship to a small transport operator.

Mr. James Callaghan (Cardiff, South)

This is an astonishing Amendment. I should have thought there was no justification at all for this type of allowance. It means, if we take the illustration of the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Pitman), that the proprietor of the lorries hands them over to the State in a condition in which they are largely worn out. That is not much of a bargain for the State, but assuming the State takes them over, the hon. Member goes on to say that not only should the State be responsible for replacing those lorries at its own expense, but that the owner of the lorries should be recompensed for having not replaced them. In other words, we are being asked that the State should give the proprietor an allowance in respect of repairs which he has not done, and that the State should then do them for him, There is, of course, the question of loss of capital and other matters of that sort, but if we reduce this highly technical point to a simple statement, that, in fact, is the position. How can we ask that the State should pay a man an allowance in respect of repairs which he has not carried out, and that the State should then carry out those repairs? I submit that no one would really suggest this is a proper thing to do, despite the loss of capital involved, and for that reason, and for the valid arguments advanced by the Solicitor- General, I see no justification for the Amendment.

Sir P. Bennett

Surely a man selling a motor vehicle would expect a bigger price if he had spent money on it, than if he sold it worn out? What has happened is that the State has taken away the money which he was going to spend on it and has left him with a derelict vehicle.

Mr. Callaghan

If I sold a motor car which had to be decarbonised I would not expect the purchaser to pay me as much for it as if I had decarbonised it, and then expect him to have it done at his own expense.

Mr. Stanley

I agree that this is a very technical point. I will not attempt to introduce into my few remarks the question of the Seventh Schedule to the Act of Ion to which the Solicitor-General referred. If I had it set out in my brief, as he has it set out in his, I should, of course, be glad to deal with it.

Mr. Pritt (Hammersmith. North)

Rather sad that the right hon. Gentleman has not got a nice brief.

Mr. Stanley

I have not perhaps got so much to call upon. My hon. Friend the' Member for Bath (Mr. Pitman) put a concrete case to which, with all respect, the. hon. Member for South Cardiff (Mr. Callaghan) has not given an answer. It seems to me that there may be, and the. Chancellor of the Exchequer has recognised this in a previous speech, a hardship as between the individual whose business is nationalised, and his next-door neighbour whose business is not nationalised. We had the case put to us of a small transport owner whose business is nationalised, his lorries having been allowed to run down because of lack of repairs during the war. His business is, taken over by the State, and presumably it is taken over at a fair value, which is a much deflated value. Alongside, we have a man who makes wireless sets, and he is in the same position. He cannot get repairs done, but he is to carry on with his business, and when the repairs situation becomes easier he is able to do them at the expense of the State, because he claims against his 100 per cent. E.P.T. His capital assets are therefore fully restored to their maximum value at the expense of the State. The lorry owner has had his capital assets taken over by the State at a very much deflated value, and never, therefore, can have the value restored.

It seems that between those two cases there is a great hardship upon the individual whose business is to be nationalised. Apart from that, one can see hardship in another way, if one takes the question of the data on which this hypothetical nationalisation is to take place. If it takes place a year or two ahead—if it is an industry well behind in the queue —by that time the repair situation has got easier, and the individual has managed to get his repairs done, then he will have had them done against E.P.T. rebate. His capital assets will be restored to their value, and, presumably, if the State takes them over thy will do so at full value. If he is unlucky, and further ahead in the queue, or if he is unlucky and the repair situation to meet his particular requirements is rather more behind hand, then, if he has not got the repairs done, he gets his capital assets taken over by the State at the deflated value. It seems to me that there are obvious chances that there will be hardship as between one individual and another; as between the individual who is nationalised and the individual who is not. I hope the Chancellor of the Exchequer has recognised the fact that nationalisation must not be allowed to impose unfairness upon the individual whose business is taken over in the supposed interest of the State, and that, having recognised that, he will see that this is a case where allowance should he made.

9.I5 p.m.

Mr. Pargiter (Spelthorne)

It would seem to me that none of the hon. Members who have spoken on this matter have carried their arguments to their logical conclusion. The only payment made by the State may not be the actual cost of the lorry at the time it is taken over; in fact it may be the earning capacity of the business which will be reflected in the figure of E.P.T. If he gets it in one way, he cannot possibly get it in the other, if the argument is continued to that point, it will be seen that if he has not paid out money in repairs, he has shown it as additional earning capacity, and if he has paid out money in repairs it cannot be shown as earning capacity.

Mr. Pitman

Do I understand from that, that the valuation of assets to be taken over by the Government in such a situation will take account of provision for deferred repairs, and that matters of that kind can be added back to the profit for the purpose of valuation?

Mr. Pargiter

I said that he would be quoting what his earning capacity is and what his profits are, and if he has not paid out in repairs that will b' shown in another way.

Sir William Darling (Edinburgh, South)

In this interesting discussion of the example given by the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Pitman) and carried on by the right hon. Member for West Bristol (Mr. Stanley), I would suggest to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and his friends that it is not only the road haulage business that we have in mind but many other industries. Have right hon. Gentlemen opposite considered what is going to happen to municipal gasworks which may be taken over by His Majesty's Government? I know a good deal about municipal gasworks. [Laughter.] I thought that feeble joke had tong since died. The gas industry, like all other industries, has had a difficult task. It has not been able to carry out improvements and necessary repairs in its plant because of the national economy It has not had the labour, materials or the desire to do so and the plant today is six years' depreciated. The maintenance of pressure plant is an expensive and costly matter and there have been six years of what one might term neglect. Many such plants would be totally unworkable except for the very good repairs done to them after six years of comparative neglect.

What is the Chancellor's position? He is going to allow nothing. This is not a little road haulage business which one could stamp beneath one's feet as a man does a beetle. It is a municipal undertaking we are talking about. The municipalities of this country will not like this story that they are not to be allowed full value for their depreciation and for their other assets. Is it recognised that the greater part of the industry of this country has been run down to an unparalleled extent, and what would have been a prosperous business if maintenance and repairs and development had been carried out, is, we fear, merely the bones of the enterprise. I think that if the Government look at it from that point of view and not from the point of view of the nationalisation of some private enterprise, they will see that they are going to be faced with political and economic difficulties, and I say, with a knowledge of municipal history, that when the Government take over the trams, buses, gas, electricity and water, that will be plain. In that industry, too, they will find keen and competent accountants whose wits are as sharp as those supporting the road haulage or any private enterprise.

There is another aspect of the matter. The valuation of an enterprise to be taken over will be made at the date on which it is formally annexed. Whatever will be the best calculation is unimportant for my argument, but the payments made will be made in a currency which is much depreciated. An asset worth X in 1939 would not in 1946 be worth merely X minus six years' depreciation, because the money

from which the remuneration to the owners of the undertaking will be taken will be very changed in character and standard. That consideration may be ignored in dealing with private enterprises like road haulage, but it will not be ignored in dealing with the tough-minded local authorities, who are getting alarmed at the incursions which are being made into their system all over the country. I beg the Government to look at this matter again and to think seriously about it before seeking trouble with the local authorities. As a friend of the Government, though an outspoken friend, I ask them to think again.

Question put, "That those words be there inserted in the Bill."

The House divided: Ayes, 118; Noes, 271.

Division No. 254.] AYES. [9.25 p.m.
Allen, Lt.-Col. Sir W. (Armagh) Hogg, Hon. Q. Prescott, Stanley
Amory, D. Heathcoat Holmes, Sir J. Stanley (Harwich) Raikes, H. V.
Assheton, Rt. Hon. R Hope, Lord J. Reed, Sir S. (Aylesbury)
Astor, Hon. M. Howard, Hon. A Renton, D.
Baldwin A. E. Hudson, Rt. Hon. R. S. (Southport) Robertson, Sir D. (Streatham)
Beamish, Maj. T. V. H Hurd, A. Robinson Wing-Comdr. Roland
Beechman, N. A Hutchison, Lt.-Cm. Clark (E'b'rgh W.) Ross, Sir R.
Bennett, Sir P. Jeffreys, General Sir G. Sanderson, Sir F.
Birch, Nigel Joynson-Hicks, Lt.-Cdr. Hon. L. W. Shepherd, S. (Newark)
Bower, N. Kerr, Sir J. Graham Shepherd, W. S. (Bucklow)
Boyd-Carpenter, J A. Kingsmill, Lt.-Col. W. H Smiles, Lt.-Col Sir W.
Braithwaite, Lt.-Comdr. J. G Lambert, Hon. G. Spearman, A. C. M.
Buchan-Hepburn, P. G. T. Lancaster, Col. C. G. Stanley, Rt. Hon. O.
Butcher, H. W. Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H. Stewart, J. Henderson (Fife, E.)
Butler, Rt. Hon. R. A. (S'ffr'n W'ld'n) Linstead, H. N. Stoddart-Scott, Col. M.
Carson, E. Lipson, D. L. Stuart, Rt. Hon. J. (Moray)
Challen, C. Low, Brig. A. R. W. Studholme, H. G.
Clarke, Col. R. S. Lucas, Major Sir J. Taylor, C. S. (Eastbourne)
Clifton-Brown, Lt.-Col. G. Lucas-Tooth, Sir H. Teeling, William
Crookshank, Capt. Rt. Hon. H. F. C Macdonald, Capl. Sir P. (I. of Wight) Thorneycroft, G. E. P. (Monmouth)
Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E. Mackeson, Lt.-Col. H. Ft. Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.
Crowder, Capt. J. F. E. Macpheraon, Maj. N. (Dumfries) Thorp, Lt.-Col. R. A. F.
Darling, Sir W. Y. Maitland, Comdr. J. W. Touche, G. C.
Digby, Maj. S. W Manningham-Bulfer, R. E. Turton, R. H.
Dodds-Parker, A. D. Marples, A. E. Vane, W. M. T.
Donner. Sqn.-Ldr. P. W Marshall, D. (Bodmin) Wakefield, Sir W. W
Drayson, G. B. Marshall, S. H. (Sutton) Walker-Smith, D.
Eccles, D M. Maude, J. C. Ward, Hon. G. R.
Eden.Rt. Hon. A. Medlicott, F. Watt, Sir G. S. Harvie
Fleming, Sqn.-Ldr. E. L. Mellor, Sir J. Wheatley, Colonel M. J.
Fletchor, W. (Bury) Morris-Jones, Sir H. White, J. B. (Canterbury)
Foster, J. G. (Northwich) Morrison, Maj. J. G. (Salisbury) Williams, C. (Torquay)
Gage, Lt.-Col. C. Neven-Spence, Sir B. Williams, Gerald (Tonbridge)
Galbraith, Cmdr. T D. Nicholson, G. Willoughby de Eresby, Lord
Glossop, C. W. H Orr-Ewing, I. L York, C.
Gridley, Sir A. Osborne, C. Young, Sir A. S. L. (Partick)
Grimston, R. V. Peake, Rt. Hon. O.
Hannon, Sir P. (Moseley) Peto, Brig. C. H. M TELLERS FOR THE AYES
Man, Lieut-Col. Hn. J. H. (W'db'ge) Pitman, I. J. Mr. Drewe and
Harvey, Air-Comdre. A. V. Ponsonby, Col. C. E. Major Conant.
Headlam, Lieut.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir C Poole, O. B. S. (Oswestry)
NOES
Adams, Richard (Balham) Austin, H. L. Bechervaise, A. E.
Adams, W. T. (Hammersmith, South) Awbery, S. S. Benson, G.
Alexander, Rt. Hon. A. V. Ayles, W. H. Bing, G. H. C
Allen, A. C. (Bosworth) Ayrton Gould, Mrs. B Binns, J.
Allen, Scholefield (Crewe) Bacon, Miss A. Blackburn, A. R.
Alpass, J H. Balfour, A. Blenkinsop, Capt. A.
Anderson, A. (Motherwell) Barstow, P. G Boardman, H.
Anderson, F. (Whitehaven) Barton, C. Bowen, R.
Attewell, H. C. Battley, J. R Bowles, F. G. (Nuneaton)
Braddock, Mrs. E. M. (L'p'l, Exch'ge) Hobson, C. R. Reeves, J.
Braddook, T. (Mitcham) Holman, P. Reid, T. (Swindon)
Brook, D. (Halifax) Holmes, H. E. (Hemsworth) Rhodes, H.
Brooks, T. J. (Rothwell) House, G. Richards, R.
Brown, George (Belper) Hoy, J. Robens, A.
Brown, T. J. (Ince) Hudson, J. H. (Ealing, W.) Roberts, Emrys (Merioneth)
Buchanan, G. Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.) Roberts, Goronwy (Caernarvonshire)
Burden. T. W. Irving, W. J. Robertson, J. J. (Berwick)
Burke, W. A. Isaacs, Rt. Hon. G. A Rogers, G. H. R.
Butler, H. W. (Hackney, S.) Jeger, G. (Winchester) Royle, C.
Callaghan, James Jones, D. T. (Hartlepools) Sargood, R.
Castle, Mrs. B. A. Jones, J. H. (Bolton) Scollan, T.
Champion, A. J. Jones, P. Asterley (Hitchin) Scott-Elliot, W.
Chater, D. Keenan, W. Segal, Dr. S.
Chetwynd, Capt. G. R. Kenyon, C. Shackleton, Wins Com E. A. A
Clitherow, Dr. R Key, C. W. Sharp, Lt.-Col. G. M.
Cluse, W. S. Kinghorn, Sqn.-Ldr. E. Shawcross, C. N. (Widnes)
Cobb, F. A. Kinley, J. Shurmer, P.
Cocks, F. S. Kirby, B. V. Silverman, S. S. (Nelson)
Coldrick, W. Lawson, Rt. Hon. J. J. Simmons, C. J.
Collick, P. Lee, F. (Hulme) Skeffington, A. M.
Collindridge, F. Leonard, W. Skeffington-Lodge, T. C
Collins, V. J. Leslie, J. R. Skinnard, F. W.
Colman, Miss G. M. Levy, B. W. Smith, Capt. C. (Colchester)
Comys, Dr. L. Lewis, A. W. J. (Upton) Smith, H. N. (Nottingham, S.)
Cooper, Wing-Comdr. G. Lindgren, G. S. Smith, S. H. (Hull, S.W.)
Corbet, Mrs. F. K. (Camb'well, N.W.) Lyne, A. W. Smith, T. (Normanton)
Corlett, Dr. J. McAdam, W. Snow, Capt. J. W
Cove, W. G. McEntee, V. La T Solley, L. J.
Crawley, Fit.-Lieut. A. McGhee, H. G Sorensen, R. W.
Crossman, R. H. S. Mack, J. D. Soskice, Maj. Sir F
Daggar, G. McKay, J. (Wallsend) Sparks, J. A.
Daines, P. Maclean, N. (Govan) Stamford, W.
Dalton, Rt. Hon. H. McLeavy. F Steele, T.
Davies, Edward (Burslem) Macpherson, T. (Romford) Taylor, H. B. (Mansfield)
Davies, Clement (Montgomery) Mainwaring, W. H. Taylor, R. J. (Morpeth)
Davies, Ernest (Enfield) Mallalieu, J. P. W. Taylor, Dr. S. (Barnet)
Davies, Harold (Leek) Manning, Mrs. L. (Epping) Thomas, I. O. (Wrekin)
Davies, R. J. (Westhoughton) Marquand, H. A. Thomas, John R. (Dover)
Deer, G. Marshall, F. (Brightside) Thomas, George (Cardiff)
Diamond, J. Mathers, G. Thorneycroft, H. (Clayton)
Dobbie, W. Medland, H M. Thurtle, E.
Dodds, N. N. Messer, F. Tiffany, S.
Donovan, T. Middleton, Mrs. L Titterington, M. F.
Dugdale, J. (W. Bromwich) Mikardo, Ian Tolley, L.
Dumplelon, C. W. Millington, Wing-Comdr. E. R Tomlinson, Rt. Hon. G.
Durbin, E. F. M. Mitchison Maj. G. R. Turner-Samuels, M.
Dye, S. Monslow, W. Ungoed-Thomas, L.
Ede, Rt. Hon. J. C. Moody, A. S Viant, S. P.
Edelman, M. Morgan, Dr. H. B. Walkden, E.
Edwards, Rt. Hon. Sir C. (Bedwelty) Morris, Lt.-Col. H. (Sheffield, C.) Walker, G. H
Edwards, John (Blackburn) Morris, P. (Swansea, W.) Wallace, G. D. (Chislehurst)
Edwards, W. J. (Whitechapel) Morrison, Rt Hon. H. (Lewisham, E.) Wallace, H. W. (Walthamstow, E.)
Fletcher, E. G. M. (Islington, E.) Mort, D. L. Warbey, W. N.
Follick, M. Moyle, A. Watkins. T. E
Foot, M. M. Murray, J. D. Weitzman, D
Forman, J. C. Nally, W. Wells, P. L. (Faversham)
Freeman, Maj. J. (Watford) Naylor, T. E. Wells, W. T. (Walsall)
Gaitskell, H. T. N. Neal, H. (Claycross) White, H. (Derbyshire, N.E.)
Ganley, Mrs. C. S. Nichol, Mrs. M. E. (Bradford. N.) Whiteley, Rt. Hon. W.
George, Lady M. Lloyd (Anglesey) Nicholls, H. R. (Stratford) Wigg, Col. G. E.
Gibbins, J. Noel-Buxton, Lady Wilkes, Maj. L.
Gibson, C. W. O'Brien, T. Wilkins, W. A.
Gilzean, A. Oldfield, W. H Willey, F. T (Sunderland)
Glanville, J. E. (Consett) Oliver, G. H. Willey, O. G (Cleveland)
Goodrich, H. E. Paget, R. T. Williams, D. J. (Neath)
Gordon-Walker, P. C. Paling, Rt. Hon. Wilfred (Wentworth) Williams, J. L. (Kelvingrove)
Greenwood, Rt. Hon. A. (Wakefield) Palmer, A. M. F. Williams, Rt. Hon. T. (Don Valley)
Greenwood, A. W. J. (Heywood) Pargiter, G. A. Williams, W. R. (Heston)
Grenfell, D. R. Parkin, Flt-Lieut. B. T. Williamson, T.
Griffiths, D. (Rother Valley) Paton, Mrs. F. (Rushcliffe) Willis, E.
Gunter, Capt. R. J. Paton, J. (Norwich) Wills, Mrs. E. A.
Guy, W. H. Pearson, A. Wilson, J. H.
Hate, Leslie Peart, Capt. T. F Wise, Major F. J.
Hall, W. G. (Colne Valley) Perrins, W. Woodburn, A.
Hamilton, Lieut.-Col. R. Platts-Mills, J. F. F. Woods, G. S.
Hannan, W. (Maryhill) Porter, G. (Leeds). Wyatt, Maj. W
Hardy, E A. Pritt, D. N. Yates, V. F.
Harrison, J. Proctor, W. T.
Hastings, Dr. Somerville Pursey, Cmdr. H TELLERS FOR THE NOES:
Haworth, J. Randall, H. E. Mr. Joseph Henderson and
Henderson, A. (Kingswinford) Ranger, J. Captain Michael Stewart.
Hicks, G. Rees-Williams, D. R.

Question put, and agreed to.