HC Deb 07 July 1959 vol 608 cc1280-1
Mr. Nugent

I beg to move, in page 12, line 22, to leave out from the third "of" to "and" in line 23 and to insert: (a) a back wheel, in a case where only one appliance is being used for the carriage of goods or burden, and is fitted to the back of the vehicle, (b) any wheel on one side of the vehicle, in any other case. This Amendment completes the process begun by the Amendments which were put down on the Recommittal stage and approved by the Committee to amend Clause 11 and have the effect of giving rather more flexibility in the regulations and the law governing the use of tractors carrying loads on the public roads.

The actual effect of this Amendment is as follows. The concession in Clause 11 (1) that a tractor may carry a loaded transport box on the public road is denied by subsection (5), as drafted, to three-wheeled tractors or tractors with front wheels less than 4 ft. apart. Some tractors having a very narrow front axle are used for farm work. The Amendment will have the effect of extending the concession allowing the carrying of a loaded transport box on the rear of a tractor to three-wheeled tractors or tractors with the front wheels close together provided that the rear wheels are not less than 4 ft. apart.

It is perfectly safe to make this Amendment. It was a small point put to us by the agricultural interests after the Clause was drafted, and I commend the Amendment to the House with confidence.

Mr. Mitchison

I must be very stupid, but I do not understand this. We are told that the effect of the Amendment is to apply the concession to certain three-wheeled vehicles, but subsection (5) of the Clause still seems to begin by saying: Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to three-wheeled vehicles and, after that, it embarks on an essay in three-dimensional mathematics which is, no doubt, quite familiar to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation but which is a little difficult for anyone else to follow.

Will the hon. Gentleman explain how this concession to certain three-wheeled vehicles can be reconciled with the statement at the beginning that it is not to apply to three-wheeled vehicles?

Mr. Nugent

Far be it from me to explain the mysteries of the draftsman, but the effect of leaving out the words from line 22 from the third "of" to "and" in line 23 and inserting these words on the Notice Paper will be to qualify the opening words of subsection (5) in such a way that the widening that I explained will take place. I agree that, sometimes, the draftsman's skill is something which perplexes my layman's mind, but I assure the hon. and learned Member for Kettering (Mr. Mitchison) that that is what it means. I am sure that that will be the effect.

Amendment agreed to.