TRADE UNIONS, AND EMPLOYERS' AND TRADE ORGANISATIONS (Hansard, 9 July 1968)

§ Mr. Hattersley

I beg to move Amendment No. 19, in page 3, line 8, leave out from 'organisations' to end of line 9 and insert— 'concerned with the carrying on of trades, businesses, professions or occupations'. This Amendment also is designed to meet a concern expressed in Committee, concern that the words organisations of persons engaged in any trade, business, profession or occupation might include not only trade unions, trade associations and employers' associations, as was intended, but also social clubs or recreational clubs which might be organisations of such people, that is, people of a certain trade, business or profession.

Irrespective of the view of the House on discrimination in private places—mine is simple and unequivocal—it is not the Government's intention that the Bill should cover such discrimination. The Amendment is designed, therefore, to narrow the scope of the Clause in a precise and specific way so that it relates to the function of the organisation rather than to the sort of person who is a member of the organisation. Thus, the ambiguity is removed and the intention is made clear, that is, to avoid discrimination in trade unions, employers' associations, trade associations and the like, and not private clubs which might be composed of such people.