HC Deb 19 March 1946 vol 420 cc1673-4
29. Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas Moore

asked the Secretary, of State for Scotland when he proposes to introduce legislation to give shopkeepers who have been dispossessed owing to the sale of their premises the same rights to compensation as those afforded to English traders under the Landlord and Tenant Act, 1927.

The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Westwood)

I am advised that in a great majority of cases the sale of property which is the subject of a lease leaves the conditions of the lease unimpaired, and that the Act to which the hon. Member refers does not provide for the payment of compensation merely on the ground that the lease has been brought to an end. So far as I am aware, there is no widespread demand for the extension to Scotland of the principles of the Act, and I cannot hold out any prospect of legislation on this subject in the immediate future.

Sir T. Moore

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain why there should be this unfair discrimination against Scottish shopkeepers compared with the English?

Mr. Westwood

I do not admit there is any unfairness and discrimination.

Mr. Stephen

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that when the English Bill was before the House we were also promised a Scottish Bill in this connection, and is he aware that at the present time in my division in Dennistoun there is a ramp in which shopkeepers are being displaced?

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