HC Deb 25 May 1950 vol 475 cc2245-8
Mr. Eden

Can the Lord President of the Council inform us whether he has any statement to make on Business on our return after Whitsun?

The Lord President of the Council (Mr. Herbert Morrison)

If I may make a reference to today's Business, may I say that we desire today to complete the following Bills and send them for consideration to another place: Foreign Compensation Bill, Highways (Provision of Cattle-Grids) Bill, Coal Mining (Subsidence) Bill, and then take the Second Reading of the Maintenance Orders Bill which has come from the Lords.

We had hoped to complete the Committee stage of the Coal Mining (Subsidence) Bill on Tuesday night and then take the Report and Third Reading today. This is an important Bill, and in view of the state of Business, if we do not complete it today I do not know when we shall be able to bring it on again. Therefore I venture to appeal to hon. Members in all quarters of the House to allow us to complete all stages of the Bill today.

The Business for the first week after the Whitsun Recess will be as follows:

TUESDAY, 13TH JUNE—Supply (16th Allotted Day); Committee. The subject for debate will be announced later.

WEDNESDAY, 14TH JUNE, AND THURSDAY, 15TH JUNE—We shall begin the Committee stage of the Finance Bill, which stage the Government hope to complete in five days.

On Thursday, before resuming the Committee stage of the Finance Bill, we shall ask the House to take the Committee stage of the Ways and Means Resolutions relating to Tractors, etc., and Double Taxation, which are on the Order Paper.

FRIDAY, 16TH JUNE—Consideration of Private Members' Motions.

Mr. Eden

The right hon. Gentleman knows there have been some discussions through the usual channels with regard to the days allotted to the various further stages of the Finance Bill. I must admit that certain improvements have been made as the result of those discussions, but we still feel that the present proposals concentrate the days into rather a short period, which is not at all convenient to the Committee if we have late sittings, because the proceedings of the day before are often not available for discussion—printed, and so on. So I would enter something of a protest about that. I would also mention—I do not want to raise it now—that we may need an extra day. Perhaps it is not necessary to press that at the moment but see how we get on during discussions, but I do not want the Government to say, "You never warned us" when that moment comes.

Mr. Morrison

I appreciate the scrupulous honesty of the right hon. Gentleman. However, I would respectfully point out that it is a much shorter Finance Bill than it was last year, and there is an extra day for the Committee stage. Therefore I hope, that, with co-operation, we shall get through, but I note the reservation which the right hon. Gentleman has expressed.

Mr. Eden

I have no doubt that the right hon. Gentleman will also bear in mind that because the Finance Bill is shorter it is not necessarily less controversial.

Mr. Morrison

Somebody said it was dull.

Mr. Ellis Smith

On Business, may I ask the acting Prime Minister, if he agrees that important ministerial statements should be made in the House where they can be subject to interrogation by the elected representatives of the people? And if so, will he bear in mind the constant growth of Press conferences, two of which were held last week, where important statements were made, which in my view, should have been made in this House? In view of the fact that the Press conferences in their present form are a war-time growth, will he consider this matter in order to prevent it being repeated in the future?

Mr. Morrison

I do not dissent from the initial and fundamental principle expressed by my hon. Friend, but I thought, on the whole, that Ministers lived up to these things. It is true that sometimes announcements are made at Press conferences but I think, on the whole, that when they are so made, it is appropriate that they should, because, if every statement—especially about the economic and trading activities in which certain Departments are involved—were made in the House, there would be a lot of statements and the House would begin to get rather tired of them. [HON. MEMBERS: "No."] Well, with great respect, I have seen it happen. But I shall keep the point of my hon. Friend in mind, and I do not challenge his fundamental point. It is a matter for judgment on the merits of the case.

Mr. Ellis Smith

Will my right hon. Friend bear in mind that I am not asking that statements in general should not be made outside. What I am asking is that we should get back to the pre-war method and that important statements, like the abolition of points and controls, and that kind of thing should be made in the House so that they may be immediately challeneged by the elected representatives of the people.

Mr. Morrison

But it has been quite customary during the war and since. After all, there was not a Ministry of Food before the war. It is quite customary for statements about adjustments in rationing and points to be made outside, and if all of them were made here we should get congestion. However, I shall take note of the point and I will keep it in mind.

Earl Winterton

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that some of us have been pressing the point put by the hon. Gentleman upon Governments of all compositions—I pressed it both upon the National Government and the Conservative Government—and while hon. and right hon. Gentlemen opposite and some of my right hon. Friends on this Front Bench have attempted in the past to defend their action, the attitude of the House has been entirely inimical to the point which has just been made by the right hon. Gentleman, that it is more convenient on many occasions to make the statement outside. Will he remember that this is the Commons House of Parliament?

Mr. Morrison

I certainly will. I am not likely to be allowed to forget it. I will say this about the noble Lord, that he has been very fair on the matter; he has not hesitated to express criticism of his own people as well as ours, and we always welcome it when hon. Gentlemen opposite do that.