HC Deb 04 December 1961 vol 650 cc1061-3

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

Mr. E. G. Willis (Edinburgh, East)

Will the, Minister explain exactly what subsection (2) means? It states: This Act (except this section) shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may by order appoint and different dates may be appointed by order under this subsection for different purposes of this Act. Does that mean that the Clause comes into operation right away, or does it mean that it does not come into operation at all? I do not understand the meaning of this kind of Clause. I do not remember having seen it in other Bills.

Mr. Woodhouse

It means that the Clause comes into operation as soon as the Bill becomes law, otherwise the Minister would not have power to bring the other Sections into operation.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Bill reported, with Amendments.

Motion made, and Question proposed. That the Bill be now read the Third time.

9.43 p.m.

Mr. Cronin rose—

Mr. Willis

On a point of order. This procedure is rather strange. The Bill has been amended in Committee. It was reported to the House in a new form. It is now an amended Bill, but no opportunity is given for Amendments on Report. Is that not a rather strange procedure?

Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Major Sir William Anstruther-Gray)

I think that is quite normal. Had there been Amendments to consider on Report, they would have been considered.

Mr. Willis

Further to that point of order. Amendments were made in Committee, Mr. Deputy-Speaker. That makes the Bill a different Bill. The Bill that comes to the House on Report is not the same Bill that was before the House in Committee. I suggest, therefore, that nobody has had an opportunity of amending the Bill in the light of the fact that it is now a different Bill from the one which was considered earlier. That certainly does not seem to give Members of the House proper facilities for considering and amending the Bill, if necessary and if they so desire.

Mr. Deputy-Speaker

The procedure that was followed was the normal procedure. The hon. Member will have an opportunity of speaking now on Third Reading, if he so wishes.

Mr. Willis

But the Bill cannot be amended.

Mr. Cronin

I feel some obligation to be as brief as possible on Third Reading.

Hon. Members

Why?

Mr. Willis

There is plenty of time.

Mr. Cronin

Yes, there is plenty of time, but one has to take into consideration that the proceedings in the next three days may well take us until very late the following morning. I am anxious that hon. Gentlemen should be able to reinforce themselves by as much sleep as possible tonight.

I was about to say that we on this side of the House welcome this Bill. It has the general approval of the British Overseas Airways Corporation and B.E.A. and also the British Airline Pilots' Association, and I think that it is generally welcomed in most civil aviation circles.

I think that the Bill will probably make some substantial contribution towards safety in the air. I not think that we can afford to be at all complacent about safety in the air. The situation is still very far from satisfactory. From 1958 to 1960 there were six collisions in the air with 191 fatalities. So an organisations such as the one to be set up under this Bill will obviously have a very beneficial effect.

The Bill will also be very valuable in that it will give a unique opportunity to our own electronics industry. It can be said, with confidence I think, that our aviation electronics industry is probably considerably in advance of that of most other countries. This Bill will give an opportunity for our electronics industry to go ahead and achieve some really substantial advances in our exports. Finally, I should like to thank the Parliamentary Secretary for the very helpful, amiable and lucid way in which he has explained matters on this Bill. I hope that he will convey our thanks to the Minister in the same respect. I think that we must also express gratitude to those people who have negotiated this Convention and for a good deal of very hard and exacting work done behind the scenes in drafting the Bill. I should like to offer the Bill my good wishes, and I hope that it will have a satisfactory journey through the other place.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.