§ 4. Mr. Hollandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will introduce legislation to remove the anomalies that exist between the Sunday sale of certain items from static shops and of the same items from mobile shops.
§ Mr. VosperI would refer my hon. Friend to the Answer which my right hon. Friend gave to a Question by my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Horncastle (Commander Maitland) on 10th February.
§ Mr. HollandIs my right hon. Friend aware that there are anomalies in the sale of paraffin? On Sundays a man may not sell paraffin oil if the drum is on the floor, but if he puts it on a wheelbarrow in the street outside he can sell it. Although that may be as good a piece of Irish logic as one could hope for on St. Patrick's day, does my right hou. Friend agree that we should not perpetuate it?
§ Mr. VosperMy right hon. Friend is aware that there are anomalies in this 1455 respect and representations have been made to him recently about them. The difficulty of finding a solution is due to the considerable alterations to the Shops Act legislation which would be required. This point cannot be considered in isolation.
§ Miss BaconWill the right hon. Gentleman explain to his hon. Friend, who is new to this House, that if his right hon. Friend had not given in to backbench pressure in the last Parliament and withdrawn his Shops Bill, these anomalies would have been rectified by now?