HC Deb 11 November 1954 vol 532 cc1509-10
Captain Duncan

I beg to move, in page 19, line 6, at the end, to insert: (5) The Act of 1950 shall be amended by inserting at the end of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section thirteen the words "it shall not be made a condition of licences that sampling authorities can obtain samples free of charge. I had an Amendment down on Committee stage to the effect that all samples should be paid for when taken. That Amendment went too far, and this Amendment is an attempt in a more limited sphere, dealing only with milk, to put the question the other way round—namely, that it should not be made a condition of licences that sampling authorities should obtain samples free of charge. I hope that this modified approach, with a limited objective, will meet the views of the Government and will be acceptable to them, if not in legislative form at any rate in the drawing up of the regulations in due course.

Sir L. Plummer

I beg to second the Amendment.

This Amendment was originally down in my name and it followed one which had been moved by the hon. and gallant Member for South Angus (Captain Duncan). I was so carried away by the Parliamentary Secretary's eloquence in dealing with his hon. and gallant Friend on that occasion that I lost all sense of proportion—indeed, I lost my senses—and told the Parliamentary Secretary that he had convinced me. He had so convinced me that his hon. and gallant Friend was wrong that he drove from my mind the necessity for me to press this Amendment. I am very glad to have this opportunity to make amends for the ingenuousness and naivety on my part, and I hope the Parliamentary Secretary will accept this Amendment.

Dr. Hill

I am glad that my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for South Angus (Captain Duncan) has given the hon. Member for Deptford (Sir L. Plummer) this opportunity to recover from that excessive affability which led him not to move a proposal, the substance of which I was then in a mind to accept. This is a significant point. Why should we regard it as a condition of the licence that the sample should not be chargeable? I am glad that the point has been brought out, and if my hon. and gallant Friend will withdraw his Amendment we will propose, in rewriting the regulations in question—a task which will soon begin—to omit the condition to which he has drawn attention.

Captain Duncan

I thank my hon. Friend for having met the point. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.