HC Deb 02 May 1956 vol 552 cc430-45

Motion made, and Question proposed, That the Clause stand part of the Bill.

Mr. A. J. Irvine

There appears to be a defect in the Clause, and also an omission in that no provision is made for a penalty for the offence committed—and I think it should be regarded as an offence—where a person who is a party to a registrable agreement fails to draw the attention of the Registrar to its existence and to provide the particulars which he is required to furnish under Clause 8.

Nobody desires to add unnecessarily or without careful thought to the number of offences which people may commit and which may involve them in a fine, but it is very important that penalties should be fairly imposed. If one type of offence is visited by a severe penalty, similar or equivalent offences should not be allowed to be committed and the persons concerned go free.

If a party to an agreement receives a notice from the Registrar requiring him to furnish certain particulars, and he suppresses a document which he is asked to disclose, he renders himself liable to a heavy fine. Is it reasonable or equitable that a party to a registrable agreement who fails at the outset to furnish any particulars of it at all should not be subjected to any penalty whatever? That is a material and substantial point, affecting the whole of the proposed machinery of the Bill.

As the Bill stands, the obligation is imposed upon the Registrar to find out, or "smell out", restrictive agreements that should be registered. There is an indefinite requirement in the Bill that particulars shall be furnished, but no clear statement whose duty it is to furnish them. The burden appears to be imposed upon the Registrar to make the inquiries and make the discoveries. I ask the Government to consider the desirability of making it an offence for any party to a registrable agreement to fail to furnish the particulars required in Clause 8.

In case anybody should say that it would be oppressive to make such a provision, I would point out that the fact that a party has a reasonable excuse for failure is a defence under the Clause, and that that would apply in the case to which I have drawn the attention of the Committee. Where there is no reasonable excuse, and where the person who is party to a registrable agreement fails to draw the agreement to the attention of the Registrar, or fails to ensure that other parties to the agreement do so, some sanction should be available, because such conduct should be treated as an offence.

Mr. Mulley

The Parliamentary Secretary will recall that when he dealt with a point ably put by my hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) on Clause 8, he was asked to consider whether there should not be punishment for failure to register and whether that might not more properly come into this Clause rather than into Clause 8. The side-note to the Clause is misleading. It says: Offences in connection with registration. It is clear that no penalty is suffered for deliberately failing to register an agreement. Let us go through the sequence in order to make sure that we have the matter clearly in mind.

If a person ignores the Act completely and refuses to register an agreement, he gets away with it completely, unless the Registrar finds out about it. If the Registrar finds out, all that happens is that he serves a notice on the person to furnish particulars. If the person ignores that notice, as he may well do, all that happens is that the Registrar goes to the Court and gets an order that the person must furnish the particulars within fourteen days. At long last, possibly four years afterwards, he can still register, so long as he does so within the fourteen-day period. Nothing whatever will happen to him, except perhaps that he pays the Registrar's costs. That is the maximum penalty.

Surely that is not good enough. We do not expect that the great majority of people will seek to avoid the provisions of the Act. In many industries the agreements are too well known for them to be concealed for very long. It is grossly unfair on those who register agreements properly that those who do not do so suffer no penalty whatever.

The maximum penalty for making statements known to be false during the act of registration is only £100 or imprisonment for a period up to three months. That penalty seems very mild contrasted with the penalty for similar offences in other fields, and it ought to be reviewed. People tend to measure the seriousness of an offence by the extent of the punishment of those who default.

Another point of detail which the Parliamentary Secretary might care to explain to me arises in subsection (3) under which, if a default in respect of an offence under subsection (1) continues after conviction, the person shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £100, or not exceeding £10 for every day on which the default continues within the three months next following his conviction for the first-mentioned offence. Why the limitation of three months? It is most unusual. Does it mean that the maximum penalty for a gross breach of the Act and contempt of the Court would be only £10 per day for a maximum of three months? I may have misunderstood the Clause, and it is important to raise this point on a Clause dealing with offences in connection with registration.

It seems that the penalties for failure to register an agreement or for deliberately obstructing the Registrar by failing to comply with orders to furnish particulars, are on the low side. May we have the Parliamentary Secretary's assurance that the Clause will be very carefully considered between now and the Report stage? It is difficult to try to rewrite the whole Clause, as would be necessary to meet the points which I have tried to put to the Committee.

5.30 p.m.

Mr. Wade

When the Parliamentary Secretary replies, it would be helpful if he would give an indication or assurance that the necessary Amendments will be introduced on Report. As the Clause reads at present, there is a penalty provided for those who fail to comply with the notice; but it is surely necessary that words should be introduced to ensure that those who fail to furnish particulars of an agreement subject to registration under this Part of this Act when so liable, suffer a penalty if they fail to do what is required of them. As the Parliamentary Secretary or the Minister has already said, the Government have facilities for the wording of Clauses which are not available to humble back-bench Members, but an assurance is necessary that Amendments will be introduced to tidy up the Clause.

Similarly, it would appear that reference must be made to trade associations, since, as a result of Amendments which have been made to earlier Clauses, they are now under an obligation to provide particulars for registration. In saying this, I am making no general attack upon trade associations; they perform a valuable service. We are not discussing the value of the services which they render.

I desire to make the Clause reasonable and to fit the other provisions of the Bill. I hope, therefore, that in replying the Parliamentary Secretary will deal with the points which have been raised on the Clause, and will give an assurance as to the probability of Amendments being brought forward on Report.

Mr. Turner-Samuels

Will the Parliamentary Secretary, when he replies, consider the question about failure to register and whether, within the provisions of the Bill, there is any method whereby a penalty can be imposed? While there is no direct reference to a penalty in the event of failure to register, nevertheless I am not certain that consequences to a person who defaults in registration might not follow from the provisions of Clause 8, under which the Court is given power to order an individual defaulter to register particulars—in other words, to register a document or something which amounts to an agreement which would be subject to registration.

If there is an express order of the Court and there is default, would that not amount to contempt of court? In those circumstances, is it not incorrect to say that there is no possibility of a penalty? It seems to me that the matter might be left in such a way that in such a situation the Court would be able to consider the whole of the circumstances and, if it was a very bad case, could treat the defaulter accordingly; and, for example, send him to prison for not complying with the order of the Court—in other words, for not registering an agreement or such documents as existed which might be said to constitute an agreement. In these circumstances, is it not correct that there is some sanction, although there is no direct reference to it, by which in practice a defaulter could come within the grip of the law and, if necessary, be sent to prison?

Mr. Walker-Smith

To deal first with the point raised by the hon. and learned Member for Gloucester (Mr. Turner-Samuels), it is quite true that if an order is made under Clause 8 (5) and if the party on whom it is made disobeys it, he is in contempt of court and can be dealt with in that way. It is, therefore, true that there is a penalty in that sense but it is, of course, a penalty at one remove.

The Committee is concerned—the hon. Members for Edge Hill (Mr. A. J. Irvine) and Huddersfield, West (Mr. Wade) were concerned with this point—that there is in the Bill as now drafted no penalty or sanction in respect of a person who, not by inadvertence but deliberately, fails to register. The penalties as such under Clause 12 only start to bite when there has been an initiative by the Registrar—that is to say, when he has served a notice and there has been failure to comply with it under subsection (1)—or, if a person has been required to furnish particulars, a false or misleading statement is made, under subsection (2).

It is, of course, right that that should be dealt with by the penalty Clause, but we are faced with the possible gap in the Bill that there is no penalty directly for a deliberate failure to register. There is procedure for dealing with that under Clause 8 (5), and it is possible that the party who is dealt with under paragraph (b) of that subsection may find himself in a sense worse off, because the Registrar can then be empowered to furnish particulars, which may be less than the full particulars and may possibly be prejudicial to the party who has failed to register the agreement.

In many cases, however, it may well be true, in the Bill as at present drafted, that the person deliberately concealing or failing to register might ultimately be the gainer, in that although his case would probably be dealt with in due course, he would have a delay which might benefit him as against the more honest person who registered his agreement and who, I am satisfied, would be in a vast majority. That being so, the question for the Committee to consider is, what is the appropriate way of applying some sanction?

As the hon. Member for Sheffield, Park (Mr. Mulley) observed, that takes us back to our discussions on Clause 8 yesterday. It is probably right to say that the sanctions suggested by my right hon. Friend, and a fortiori the sterner sanctions suggested by the hon. and learned Member for Gloucester, would probably be more effective in that direction than a strict penal sanction under Clause 12.

As the Committee will recall, my right hon. Friend said yesterday: I think that he "— that is a person who has deliberately failed to register— should have a penalty of some kind inflicted upon him in those circumstances."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 1st May, 1956; Vol. 552, c. 316.] He then indicated to the Committee the kind of provision which, while not going so far as the hon. and learned Member suggested—we do not want to discuss that again—was on the same basis of approach. That is to say, the sanction would be that, for a period at least, the agreement would become proscribed without the necessity of being tried by the Restrictive Practices Court.

As my right hon. Friend told the Committee, we are considering that aspect between now and the Report stage and this point falls to be dealt with in the same consideration. I assure hon. Members who have been good enough to contribute their views this afternoon that we shall, of course, take into account all that they have said.

There are one or two small specific points with which I should deal. The hon. Member for Sheffield, Park, in referring to the smallness of the penalties, referred only, I think, to the penalties on summary conviction in subsection (2). There are larger penalties appropriate for indictment. With regard to the question about the three months, at the expiration of that period the continuing offence would, I understand, come to an end, but of course a fresh offence under subsection (1) would be created immediately thereafter. It is, I think, not considered desirable to continue an offence under the first conviction without limitation in any way.

Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas

As the Parliamentary Secretary will have realised from the strong observations made about the Clause, we are very dissatisfied with it. We considered putting down Amendments to it, and our difficulty was largely one of drafting. The whole conception of the Clause is based upon the preliminary requirement that if any person fails without reasonable excuse to comply with a notice duly given to him under the last foregoing section —and only then—the Clause shall come into operation. The difficulty is that "under the foregoing section" the Registrar must in the first place, before he can have authority to issue a notice, have reasonable cause to believe that there is an agreement within the Act.

The Clause is headed "Offences in connection with registration", but it is limited to cases in which the Registrar has reason to believe that there is an agreement. Only then does the Clause come into operation. We believe it to be a wholly inadequate Clause, not merely for the reasons brought out so clearly by my hon. Friends the Members for Sheffield, Park (Mr. Mulley), Islington, East (Mr. E. Fletcher) and Edge Hill (Mr. A. J. Irvine), but also because the notice can be given only if the Registrar has reason to believe that an agreement is in existence.

The Parliamentary Secretary referred to Clause 8 (5) and the Amendment the introduction of which the President has in mind. That does not meet our fundamental objection at all. Our fundamental objection is that no penalty whatever arises from the failure to register. Before any penalty, including the introduction of the Amendment to Clause 8 (5) which the President has in mind, is operative, the Registrar must have some cause to believe that there is an agreement in existence, and must serve a notice requiring the particulars to be furnished. That is a fundamental defect of the Bill.

The Parliamentary Secretary says that he expects large numbers of people to register. I should like to think exactly the same, and I will not gainsay him; I believe that large numbers of responsible people will register. The difficulty about the offences system of the Bill, including the Clause, is that we penalise the more honest members of the community and leave a vast loophole for the less honest. Surely that is bad legislation. The Government are relying, by wishful thinking, on the hope that people will register under the Bill. They are relying, as a matter of wishful thinking and hopefulness, on the decency of the vast majority of people to come forward and register, but they are automatically penalising such people in contrast with those who lie low and do not register.

That, of course, is thoroughly pernicious and it is not a method to which we can subscribe. The President's difficulty is that he has a phobia about attaching any kind of penalty because it might be considered as a criminal penalty, and he does not want the Bill to be tinged with a criminal aspect. I am not arguing against him on that issue. We have not suggested that mere failure to register should automatically involve a criminal offence, but what we suggested yesterday—and, had it been accepted, it would have reduced our objections to the Clause a good deal—was that where there is failure to register, the agreement should be treated as an agreement which is contrary to the public interest.

5.45 p.m.

We cannot accept the scheme of sanctions included in the Bill. This Clause is the Government's answer to the question, what sanctions are to be applied? But the fundamental difficulty in the whole of their scheme of sanctions in the Clause is that it is limited to cases in which the Registrar has already found out that there is an agreement in existence. That is a gross defect in the Bill, and although we are in favour of the sanctions in the Clause, such as they are, we shall, as the Clause represents the whole scheme of sanctions to the Bill, register our opposition to it and trust that the Government will bring forward recommendations which will cover the lacuna which now exists and which is not covered by the Amendment which the President said yesterday that he has in mind.

Sir Lancelot Joynson-Hicks (Chichester)

The hon. and learned Member for Leicester, North-East (Sir L. UngoedThomas) has set out the case made by his hon. Friends, but there is another small though not unimportant point. I agree with the Parliamentary Secretary in saying that the proportion of cases which it might be expected will not be registered voluntarily is exceedingly small, but if it appears to the naughty people that there is a chance of getting away with it, and if it is beneficial to them to do so, they may try to get away with it. They may be a very small minority, but they are the people we want to catch.

As I see it, the majority of such a minority of cases are likely to argue as their defence that they did not believe there was any agreement. It will be exceedingly difficult for that issue to be decided by the Registrar. I therefore feel that my hon. and learned Friend's suggestion—that in such cases, where there has been wilful default in registration, the Registrar may have a discretionary power to prescribe the agreement altogether—requires exceedingly careful thought, because it might well put the Registrar into a difficult position. It might cause his position to be regarded as other than that which we have been trying to create for him in the Bill vis-à-vis the parties to the great mass of agreements.

I therefore suggest to my hon. and learned Friend that when he is considering this matter, he might also consider it upon the lines that the Registrar shall have power to refer the question to the Court, so that the Court may decide whether there has been wilful default, without reasonable excuse, in withholding registration of the agreement. I beg him to be careful in putting upon the Registrar the onus and burden of becoming the executioner to the parties to an agreement.

Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas

Would the hon. Member not agree, in view of his opening remarks about letting out the less scrupulous from the provisions of the Bill and penalising those who register in accordance with its requirements, that it is important that there should be automatic provision and not provision dependent on the Registrar finding out in the first place that an agreement may exist?

Sir L. Joynson-Hicks

No, I would not agree with that. There are many possibilities of a bona fide mistake being made and a perfectly good reason existing for a registration not having taken place. It would be most unfortunate to have an automatic penalty.

Mr. Walker-Smith

It is the firm intention of the Government that the gap in the Bill should be closed and that provision should be made to prevent a deliberate defaulter getting the benefit of his default. Our present thinking is on the lines explained by my right hon. Friend in the debate yesterday, but in our thinking we shall take all relevant circumstances into account and, in particular, what has been said in the debate this evening. I can assure my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Sir L. Joynson-Hicks) that we shall have regard to what he has said.

I would add this in regard to what was said by the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, North-East (Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas). He made great play, with his customary emphasis of manner and vigour of tone, with the fact that this sanction would not bite until the Registrar knew that there had been a deliberate default. Precisely the same, of course, would apply to what the hon. and learned Member calls an automatic penalty. I appreciate that the practice of the hon. and learned Member lies in more rarefied spheres, but where there are criminal offences, before they can be punished it is necessary for them in any event to be detected. I hope we may now have the Clause.

Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas

I am really astonished at the lack of understanding of the Parliamentary Secretary. We did not propose a criminal penalty and, therefore, we are not delving into criminal offences. What we proposed was that the agreement should be treated as an agreement which the Court had pronounced to be contrary to the public interest. It would, therefore, have necessarily the same consequences as the President proposed for agreements which are declared by the Court to be contrary to the public interest. As has been emphasised time and again, that does not involve a criminal offence.

Mr. Walker-Smith

The Committee has passed judgment on the proposed Amendment of the hon. and learned Member to Clause 8. We are now dealing with Clause 12 which, as the marginal note shows, deals with offences—that is to say, criminal offences—in connection with registration.

Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas

We really cannot let it go like this. The argument I was putting forward was not that we are proposing that an automatic sanction for failure to register an agreement should be a criminal sanction. What we said was that if our proposals on that question were accepted we would not have such a stiff objection to Clause 12 as we now have. It is because of that, that we are particularly concerned about the objections to Clause 12, which provides for no remedy.

I agree that there are criminal penalties in the Clause, but the point I was making about our Amendment was that we provided, not a criminal penalty, but a civil penalty, and that would go a great way towards meeting the defects of the Clause. We have not suggested, and do not suggest now, that we should make failure to register subject to a criminal penalty. We say it should be a civil penalty and should operate as with an agreement condemned by the Restrictive Practices Court.

Mr. Walker-Smith

I do not know what the hon. and learned Member means by "we." There is an Amendment in the names of five of his hon. Friends which would make it a criminal offence.

Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas

Which one is that?

Mr. Mulley

I do not want to delay the proceedings of the Committee, but it does not seem to me that the suggestion made by the Government—I am not going to argue whether it should be a civil or criminal penalty—would be enough. It seems to me that the kind of person who would not register an agreement is someone with a shrewd idea that that agreement would not be found to be in the public interest and who feels that if he took it to the Court the decision would go against him. If that is the case and the suggestion is that automatically that agreement is held to be contrary to the public interest, such a person would have nothing to lose. The Amendment suggested by the Government, therefore, would not be a deterrent at all because the class of person who would avoid registration is the kind of person who is fairly certain that the agreement would fail if he went to the Court. I do not

think that what the Government suggest is enough to provide a practical deterrent, and I hope that the Parliamentary Secretary will think rather more generously on these lines.

Mr. Walker-Smith

I appreciate the point made by the hon. Member for Sheffield, Park (Mr. Mulley), but the same objection applies to the Amendment moved by his hon. and learned Friend the Member for Leicester, North-East to Clause 8. We shall, however, include it in the matters to which we are giving consideration before Report stage.

Sir James Hutchison (Glasgow, Scotstoun)

Before we part with the Clause, I hope that my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary will think carefully about the suggestion which I understand was made by the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, North-East (Sir L. Ungoed-Thomas) that if an agreement is not registered it shall automatically be considered as one that is condemned. It is conceivable that an agreement might act in the public interest. I think that possibility has to be provided for. Even though the defaulter should not have registered in the ultimate discussion and consideration it might turn out that the agreement is in the public interest.

Question put, That the Clause stand part of the Bill:—

The Committee divided: Ayes 248, Noes 198.

Division No. 162.] AYES [5.57 p.m.
Agnew, Cmdr, P. G. Brooke, Rt. Hon. Henry Duthie, W. S.
Aitken, W. T. Bryan, P. Eden, J. B. (Bournemouth, West)
Allan, R. A. (Paddington, S.) Buchan-Hepburn, Rt. Hon. P. C. T. Elliot, Rt. Hon. W. E.
Amery, Julian (Preston, N.) Bullus, Wing Commander E. E. Emmet, Hon. Mrs. Evelyn
Arbuthnot, John Burden, F. F. A. Errington, Sir Eric
Armstrong, C. W. Butcher, Sir Herbert Farey-Jones, F. W.
Ashton, H. Butler, Rt. Hn. R. A. (Saffron Walden) Finlay, Graeme
Baldock, Lt.-Cmdr. J. M. Campbell, Sir David Fisher, Nigel
Baldwin, A. E. Carr, Robert Fleetwood-Hesketh, R. P.
Balniel, Lord Cary, Sir Robert Fletcher-Cooke, C.
Barlow, Sir John Chichester-Clark, R. Fort, R.
Barter, John Clarke, Brig. Terence (Portsmth, W.) Foster, John
Baxter, Sir Beverley Cole, Norman Fraser, Hon. Hugh (Stone)
Beamish, Maj. Tufton Cooper, Sqn. Ldr. Albert Galbraith, Hon. T. C. D.
Bell, Philip (Bolton, E.) Cordeaux, Lt.-Col. J. K. George, J. C. (Pollok)
Bell, Ronald (Bucks, S.) Corfield, Capt. F. V. Gibson-Watt, D.
Bennett, F. M. (Torquay) Craddock, Beresford (Spelthorne) Glover, D.
Bennett, Dr. Reginald Crosthwaite-Eyre, Col. O. E. Godber, J. B.
Bevins, J. R. (Toxteth) Crowder, Sir John (Finchley) Gomme-Duncan, Col. Sir Alan
Bidgood, J. C. Crowder, Petre (Ruislip—Northwood) Gower, H. R.
Biggs-Davison, J. A. Cunningham, Knox Grant, W. (Woodside)
Bishop, F. P. Currie, C. B. H. Green, A.
Body, R. F. D'Avigdor-Goldsmid, Sir Henry Gresham Cooke, R.
Bossom, Sir A. C. Deedes, W. F. Grimond, J.
Bowen, E. R. (Cardigan) Donaldson, Cmdr. C. E. McA. Grimston, Hon. John (St. Albans)
Boyle, Sir Edward Doughty, C. J. A. Grimston, Sir Robert (Westbury)
Braine, B. R. Drayson, G. B. Grosvenor, Lt.-Col. R. G.
Braithwaite, Sir Albert (Harrow, W.) du Cann, E. D. L. Gurden, Harold
Bromley-Davenport, Lt.-Col. W. H. Duncan, Capt. J. A. L. Hall, John (Wycombe)
Hare, Rt. Hon. J. H. Lucas, P. B. (Brentford & Chiswick) Roberts, Sir Peter (Heeley)
Harris, Frederic (Croydon, N.W.) Lucas-Tooth, Sir Hugh Robertson, Sir David
Harris, Reader (Heston) McAdden, S. J. Robinson, Sir Roland (Blackpool, S.)
Harrison, A. B. C. (Maldon) Macdonald, Sir Peter Robson-Brown, W.
Harrison, Col, J. H. (Eye) McKibbin, A. J. Roper, Sir Harold
Harvey, Air Cdre. A. V. (Macclesfd) Mackie, J. H. (Galloway) Ropner, Col. Sir Leonard
Harvey, Ian (Harrow, E.) McLaughlin, Mrs. P. Russell, R. S.
Harvey, John (Walthamstow, E.) Maclay, Rt. Hon. John Schofield, Lt.-Col. W.
Hay, John Macleod, Rt. Hn. Iain (Enfield, W.) Scott-Miller, Cmdr. R.
Head, Rt. Hon. A. H. MacLeod, John (Ross & Cromarty) Sharpies, R. C.
Heald, Rt. Hon. Sir Lionel Macmillan, Rt. Hn. Harold(Bromley) Shepherd, William
Heath, Rt. Hon. E. R. G. Macpherson, Niall (Dumfries) Simon, J. E. S. (Middlesbrough, W.)
Henderson, John (Cathcart) Maddan, Martin Smithers, Peter (Winchester)
Hinchingbrooke, Viscount Maitland, Cdr. J. F. W. (Horncastle) Smyth, Brig. Sir John (Norwood)
Holland-Martin, C. J. Manningham-Buller, Rt. Hn. Sir R. Spearman, A. C. M.
Holt, A. F. Markham, Major Sir Frank Speir, R. M.
Hope, Lord John Marlowe, A. A. H. Spens, Rt. Hn. Sir P. (Kens'gt'n, S.)
Hornsby-Smith, Miss M. P. Marples, A. E. Stevens, Geoffrey
Horobin, Sir Ian Marshall, Douglas Steward, Harold (Stockport, S.)
Hudson, Sir Austin (Lewisham, N.) Mathew, R. Stewart, Henderson (Fife, E.)
Hudson, W. R. A. (Hull, N.) Maude, Angus Stoddart-Soott, Col. M.
Hughes Hallett, Vice-Admiral J. Maudling, Rt. Hon. R. Studholme, H. G.
Hughes-Young, M. H. C. Mawby, R. L. Summers, G. S. (Aylesbury)
Hurd, A. R. Maydon, Lt.-Comdr. S. L. C. Taylor, William (Bradford, N.)
Hutchison, Sir Ian Clark(E'b'gh, W.) Milligan, Rt. Hon. W. R. Teeling, W.
Hutchison, Sir James (Scotstoun) Moore, Sir Thomas Thompson, Lt.-Cdr. R. (Croydon, S.)
Hyde, Montgomery Mott-Radclyffe, C. E. Thorneycroft, Rt. Hon. P.
Iremonger, T. L. Nairn, D. L. S. Thornton-Kemsley, C. N.
Irvine, Bryant Godman (Rye) Nicholson, Godfrey (Farnham) Tiley, A. (Bradford, W.)
Jenkins, Robert (Dulwich) Nicolson, N. (B'n'm'th, E. & Chr'ch) Tilney, John (Wavertree)
Jennings, Sir Roland (Hallam) Nield, Basil (Chester) Touche, Sir Gordon
Johnson, Dr. Donald (Carlisle) Oakshott, H. D. Turner, H. F. L.
Johnson, Eric (Blackley) O'Neill, Hn. Phelim (Co. Antrim, N.) Turton, Rt. Hon. R. H.
Jones, Rt. Hon. Aubrey (Hall Green) Ormsby-Gore, Hon. W. D. Tweedsmuir, Lady
Joseph, Sir Keith Orr, Capt. L. P. S. Vane, W. M. F.
Joynson-Hicks, Hon. Sir Lancelot Orr-Ewing, Charles Ian (Hendon, N.) Vaughan-Morgan, J. K.
Keegan, D. Osborne, C. Vickers, Miss J. H.
Kerby, Capt. H. B. Page, R. G. Wade, D. W.
Kerr, H. W. Pannell, N. A. (Kirkdale) Wakefield, Sir Wavell (St. M'lebone)
Kershaw, J, A. Partridge, E. Walker-Smith, D. C.
Kimball, M. Pickthorn, K. W. M. Wall, Major Patrick
Kirk, P. M. Pilkington, Capt. R. A. Ward, Hon. George (Worcester)
Lagden, G. W. Pitt, Miss E. M. Ward, Dame Irene (Tynemouth)
Lancaster, Col. C. G. Pott, H. P. Waterhouse, Capt. Rt. Hon. C.
Langford-Holt, J. A. Powell, J. Enoch Watkinson, Rt. Hon. Harold
Leather, E. H. C. Profumo, J. D. Webbe, Sir H.
Leavey, J. A. Raikes, Sir Victor Whitelaw, W. S. I. (Penrith & Border)
Leburn, W. G. Ramsden, J. E. Williams, Paul (Sunderland, S.)
Legge-Bourke, Maj. E. A. H. Rawlinson, Peter Wilson, Geoffrey (Truro)
Legh, Hon. Peter (Petersfield) Redmayne, M. Woollam, John Victor
Lindsay, Hon. James (Devon, N.) Rees-Davies, W. R. Yates, William (The Wrekin)
Lloyd, Maj. Sir Guy (Renfrew, E.) Remnant, Hon. P.
Lloyd-George, Maj. Rt. Hon. C. Renton, D. L. M. TELLERS FOR THE AYES:
Longden, Gilbert Ridsdale, J. E. Mr. Wills and Mr. Wakefield
Lucas, Sir Jocelyn (Portsmouth, S.) Rippon, A. G. F.
NOES
Ainsley, J. W. Butler, Mrs. Joyce (Wood Green) Ede, Rt. Hon. J. C.
Albu, A. H. Callaghan, L. J. Edwards, Rt. Hon. John (Brighouse)
Allaun, Frank (Salford, E.) Castle, Mrs. B. A. Edwards, Rt. Hon. Ness (Caerphilly)
Allen, Arthur (Bosworth) Champion, A. J. Edwards, Robert (Bilston)
Allen, Scholefield (Crewe) Chapman, W. D. Evans, Albert (Islington, S.W.)
Awbery, S. S. Chetwynd, G. R. Evans, Stanley (Wednesbury)
Bacon, Miss Alice Clunie, J. Fernyhough, E.
Balfour, A. Coldrick, W. Fienburgh, W.
Bence, C. B. (Dunbartonshire, E.) Collick, P. H. (Birkenhead) Fletcher, Eric
Benn, Hn. Wedgwood (Bristol, S.E.) Collins, V.J. (Shoreditch & Finsbury) Forman, J. C.
Benson, G. Corbet, Mrs. Freda Fraser, Thomas (Hamilton)
Beswick, F. Cove, W. G. Gaitskell, Rt. Hon. H. T. N.
Blackburn, F. Craddock, George (Bradford, S.) Gibson, C. W.
Blenkinsop, A. Cronin, J. D. Gooch, E. G.
Blyton, W. R. Crossman, R. H. S. Gordon Walker, Rt. Hon. P. C.
Boardman, H. Cullen, Mrs. A. Greenwood, Anthony
Bottomley, Rt. Hon. A. G. Daines, P. Grenfell, Rt. Hon. D. R.
Bowden, H. W. (Leicester, S.W.) Dalton, Rt. Hon. H. Grey, C. F.
Bowles, F. G. Darling, George (Hillsborough) Griffiths, Rt. Hon. James (Llanelly)
Boyd, T. C. Davies Ernest (Enfield, E.) Griffiths, William (Exchange)
Brockway, A. F. Davies, Harold (Leek) Hale, Leslie
Broughton, Dr. A. D. D. Davies, Stephen (Merthyr) Hall, Rt. Hn. Glenvil (Colne Valley)
Brown, Rt. Hon. George (Belper) de Freitas, Geoffrey Hamilton, W. W.
Brown, Thomas (Ince) Delargy, H. J. Hannan, W.
Burton, Miss F. E. Dodds, N. N. Hastings, S.
Butler, Herbert (Hackney, C.) Dugdale, Rt. Hn. John (W. Brmwch) Hayman, F. H.
Henderson, Rt. Hn. A. (Rwly Regis) Messer, Sir F. Sheffington, A. M.
Herbison, Miss M. Mitchison, G. R. Slater, Mrs. H. (Stoke, N.)
Hobson, C. R. Monslow, W. Slater, J. (Sedgefield)
Holmes, Horace Moody, A. S. Smith, Ellis (Stoke, S.)
Houghton, Douglas Morris, Percy (Swansea, W.) Sorensen, R. W.
Howell, Denis (All Saints) Morrison, Rt. Hn. Herbert (Lewis'm, S.) Steele, T.
Hubbard, T. F. Mort, D. L. Stewart, Michael (Fulham)
Hughes, Cledwyn (Anglesey) Moss, R. Stokes, Rt. Hon. R. R. (Ipswich)
Hughes, Hector (Aberdeen, N.) Moyle, A. Stones, W. (Consett)
Hunter, A. E. Mulley, F. W. Strauss, Rt. Hon. George (Vauxhall)
Irvine, A. J. (Edge Hill) Neal, Harold (Bolsover) Stross, Dr. Barnett (Stoke-on-Trent, C.)
Irving, S. (Dartford) Noel-Baker, Francis (Swindon) Summerskill, Rt. Hon. E.
Jay, Rt. Hon. D. P. T. Oliver, G. H. Sylvester, G. O.
Jeger, George (Goole) Oram, A. E. Taylor, Bernard (Mansfield)
Jenkins, Roy (Stechford) Orbach, M. Taylor, John (West Lothian)
Johnson, James (Rugby) Oswald, T. Thomson, George (Dundee, E.)
Jones, Rt. Hon. A. Creech(Wakefield) Owen, W. J. Timmons, J.
Jones, David (The Hartlepools)
Jones, Jack (Rotherham) Paling, Rt. Hon. W. (Dearne Valley) Tomney, F.
Jones, J. Idwal (Wrexham) Paling, Will T. (Dewsbury) Turner-Samuels, M.
Jones, T. W. (Merioneth) Pargiter, G. A. Ungoed-Thomas, Sir Lynn
Kenyon, C. Parkin, B. T. Warbey, W. N.
Key, Rt. Hon. C. W. Paton, J. Weitzman, D.
Lawson, G. M. Pearson, A. Wells, Percy (Faversham)
Ledger, ft. J. Plummer, Sir Leslie West, D. G.
Lee, Frederick (Newton) Price, J. T. (Westhoughton) Wheeldon, W. E.
Lee, Miss Jennie (Cannock) Price, Philips (Gloucestershire, W.) White, Henry (Derbyshire, N.E.)
Lever, Leslie (Ardwick) Probert, A. R. Wilkins, W. A.
Lewis, Arthur Proctor, W. T. Willey, Frederick
Logan, D. G. Pryde, D. J. Williams, Rev. Llywelyn (Ab'tillery)
Mabon, Dr. J. Dickson Randall, H. E. Williams, W. R. (Openshaw)
McGhee, H. G. Redhead, E. C. Willis, Eustace (Edinburgh, E.)
McGovern, J. Reeves, J. Wilson, Rt. Hon. Harold (Huyton)
McInnes, J. Reid, William Winterbottom, Richard
McKay, John (Wallsend) Robens, Rt. Hon. A. Woodburn, Rt. Hon. A.
McLeavy, Frank Roberts, Albert (Normanton) Woof, R. E.
MacPherson, Malcolm (Stirling) Roberts, Goronwy (Caernarvon) Yates, V. (Ladywood)
Mahon, Simon Robinson, Kenneth (St. Pancras, N.) Zilliacus, K.
Mallalieu, E. L. (Brigg) Rogers, George (Kensington, N.)
Mason, Roy Ross, William TELLERS FOR THE NOES:
Mayhew, C. P. Royle, C. Mr. Short and Mr. Deer.
Mellish, R. J. Short, E. W.