§ Sir D. Walker-SmithI beg to move Amendment No. 368, in page 18, line 25, leave out 'and information'.
This is the last Amendment to be moved in these Committee proceedings. It will also be the shortest and dullest, and probably the least significant. So in that sense we are ending on somewhat of a note of anti-climax. But this is a probing Amendment tabled by my right hon. and hon. Friends and myself to elicit what will be involved in the Clause.
The "Estimates, returns and information", which are referred to in the Clause, under the Statistics of Trade Act and the Agriculture Act are clear in their application. They are required and furnished, as the Committee will know, in connection with the censuses of production and distribution under Section 2(1) of the Statistics of Trade Act. The agricultural statistics are furnished under Section 78 of the Agriculture Act. I have never been wholly happy with those provisions even in a domestic context.
§ 10.30 p.m.
§
I had some experience of them forensically before going to the Board of Trade, when I criticised them, and I had experience of them at the Board of Trade as a Minister helping to administer them. We appreciate that all statistical patterns must be based to some extent upon contemporary interrogation, and by and large the Acts and their requirements have been accepted in the domestic context partly because they are limited. Now we have an extension into the unknown where information
may be disclosed in pursuance of a Community obligation to a Community institution".
Community obligations, as the Committee knows from earlier discussions on these matters, are both existing and future. On the existing ones perhaps my right hon. Friend the Minister for Trade can oblige the Committee with a summary of what will be involved in the estimates, returns and information under the Community obligations. Even more important is that he should give us an estimate of what we may be liable to hereafter in the extension
384
of the requirement to Community obligations.
§ We are extending from a domestic requirement which is precise and restricted into an open-ended commitment which is out with our control. It is part of the pattern of the Bill and part of the reason which has given rise to concern and apprehension. I move the Amendment in order to give my right hon. Friend an opportunity to provide the information to the Committee.
§ Mr. EnglishAs I understand it, at present a civil servant who reveals confidential information is liable to prosecution under the Official Secrets Acts. As I also understand it, such a civil servant is not liable to prosecution under either British or Community law for revealing confidential information if he is, for example, a servant of the Commission. I would ask the Minister therefore, first, if he will relieve British civil servants of the criminal penalties of revealing information to which they are now subject since their counterparts in Brussels will not be subject to the same criminal sanctions.
I accept that the Brussels civil servant may be found guilty of misconduct and liable to dismissal for revealing information but I am concerned about criminal proceedings. If the Minister is not prepared to agree to that, would he, as an alternative, indicate that a Brussels civil servant who reveals information should be liable to prosecution in the Community and not merely treated as if he had slipped on the doorstep in front of the boss?
Would the Minister also advise British businessmen that the confidential information which they at present send in to Ministries is no longer protected by the criminal law?
§ Mr. J. Enoch Powell (Wolver Hampton, South-West)When my right hon. Friend the Minister replies, I wonder whether he would go a little further in response to my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, East (Sir D. Walker-Smith) in regard to the words which are the governing words here:
in pursuance of a Community obligation".My hon. and learned Friend the Solicitor-General coined at an earlier stage of these debates the memorable apophthegm "An obligation is an 385 obligation is an obligation". It would be a considerable reassurance to the Committee to be told that in this context, too, "obligation" means no less than what it says—in other words, that the Clause does not permit the information to be disclosed in the course of consultation with the Community institutions or in the course of discussions which might lead up to the creation of a Community obligation, that it is only when a Community obligation, enforceable or otherwise, but still, in the terms of my hon. and learned Friend an obligation, exists that it triggers off the right to disclose this information.That is important, because if those terms were not strictly observed we might well find that a certain process of interchange was gradually built up which became a tradition between the Civil Service in this country and the civil service of the Community. If the Clause is to be strictly interpreted, it carries with it a certain safeguard, but it would be desirable that my right hon. Friend should confirm that it will be strictly interpreted and that it means "obligation" in the full sense of the term.
§ Mr. Ronald King MurrayThe Amendment is extremely germane to the whole problem of what entry into the Community implies for us, and it is germane in the context of the last debate.
I hope that in replying to the very pertinent points raised the Minister will not take refuge in the same field as the Government did in the last debate. The Solicitor-General in particular intervened on a number of occasions to say that because the Labour Government produced a White Paper which appeared to accept the principle of entry to Euratom, and because exchange of information would be necessary in that, Parliament should have no opportunity to discuss the details of the Euratom Treaty. It is right to press the objection to that argument now, in case it is presented again by the Government. The fallacy in it is illustrated by the following example.
If it is said that the White Papers of both parties agreed that there was no obstacle to our entry into Euratom, and that there is no obstacle to the exchange of information on the basis of the Clause, the fact that there is no obstacle does not create a binding agreement. That is obvious by a comparison with companies. 386 Nobody in his senses would say that because the boards of directors of two companies agreed that there was no obstacle to a merger, the merger immediately took place as a result, with no reference to the shareholders. Therefore, the Amendment should be pressed at least to the extent of discovering from the Government the information they have in mind.
I have a number of specific points. First, are the Government seriously saying that information will be conveyed by this country to Community institutions in pursuance of Community obligations only under the Clause? That is what the Bill appears to say, that information of this kind will be disclosed only under the Clause. The proposition appears laughable. It seems obvious that a great deal of information is bound to be disclosed in pursuance of Community obligations going far beyond the Clause. Is the information to be limited to this or not?
The Statistics of Trade Act, 1947, was enacted against a background of seeking to obtain statistics which would enable economic trends to be obtained so that better Government forward planning could be made—a laudable purpose. But the Clause refers to Section 9 of the Act, and that Section specifically deals with a narrow range of statistics and provides severe safeguards. Information is to be conveyed only under very stringent safeguards. On the face of it, these safeguards are not applicable to a Community institution. How then do the Government propose to ensure that the information is to be disclosed "in like manner"? They have done it effectively for the citizens of this country. How are they to ensure it is done "in like manner" for Community institutions. I press that matter in regard to both the Statistics of Trade Act and the Agriculture Act, 1947.
The statistics sought under Section 80 of the Agriculture Act, 1947, were also stringently safeguarded. There again, the background was to obtain statistics to enable agricultural production and the like to be estimated, and information about the use of land was also sought. The safeguards which were fed into the Act were very stringent. But I have said they are not safeguards which can in any way be extended to a Community institution. Therefore, I press the Government to answer these two specific questions.
§ Mr. NobleArticle 213 of the treaty establishing the European Economic Community provides that the Commission may, under conditions laid down by the Council, collect information required for the performance of the tasks entrusted to it.
For some years the Communities have been engaged in developing, in consultation with Member States, a programme of reporting statistical information to the Commission. The United Kingdom is looking forward to playing its full part in this work. No one in the House can deny the need for comprehensive up-to-date Community statistics if the Communities are to operate effectively, nor the value of such statistics to Government, industrial and other undertakings and individuals in this country.
The Statistical Office of the European Communities, which is part of the Commission, fulfils much the same rôle in the Communities as does the Government's Statistical Service in this country.
The collection of statistics in the Community is undertaken in one of three ways: first, after discussion between the member States when no Community obligation arises and any information is supplied on a voluntary basis: secondly, by an appropriate Community instrument imposing an obligation upon member States to provide information: thirdly, by directly applicable Community instruments binding directly on undertakings. No problem of confidentiality will arise in relation to information furnished by Her Majesty's Government to the Community on a voluntary basis since only aggregate information already available, in published or publishable form, which does not consist of, or reveal, information relating to any individual business or farm would be made available. Current Community statistical obligations generally call for aggregate data, which would not be expected, as a rule, to disclose the activities of individual businesses. However, the possibility that some particular obligation on Her Majesty's Government to furnish information might involve disclosure cannot be ruled out. The fact that particular figures might reveal the operations of individual businesses may not be known until the figures have been collected and processed, or the position may have 388 changed since the figures were last collected.
As regards the second and third categories to which I have just referred, Clause 12 is concerned only with information which member States are required under a Community obligation to supply to a Community institution and which is covered by the disclosure provisions in the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947, and the Agriculture Act, 1947. It is not concerned with information which the Commission is empowered under Community law to collect direct from undertakings.
10.45 p.m.
Clause 12 provides that information disclosing the activities of an individual business or farm, collected under the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947, or the Agriculture Act, 1947, can be furnished to a Community institution to meet a Community obligation in the same way as it might be furnished to another Government Department under the 1947 Acts. We are concerned here only with the information which must be provided under Community law. If such information were not provided under Clause 12, it would have to be provided in another way.
The United Kingdom statistical system, procedures and classifications will all need review on our entry into the Community to see to what extent they can usefully be aligned with the Community's statistical system. We shall benefit from this alignment because our own statistics will be more closely comparable with those of the other member States and the Community as a whole. This will clearly benefit all who use statistics and will mean that Clause 12 will serve an increasingly useful purpose for those Departments which collect statistics and those who supply them.
The likely effects of the Amendment are obscured by the difference in wording between the relevant Sections of the two Acts. Since Section 9 of the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947, makes reference
…individual estimates or returns and no information relating to individual undertakings…it may be that the phrase "and information" has been used as a means of 389 requiring, as my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Hertfordshire, East (Sir D. Walker-Smith) suggested, the deletion of "information" wherever it occurs, and no matter how qualified. If so, the Amendment is open to the criticism that it would, within the generally restrictive framework of Section 9 of the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947, allow the disclosure of individual estimates or returns received from firms but not of items of information about individual firms. It is difficult to see what useful purpose this would serve.Section 80 of the Agriculture Act, 1947, on the other hand, refers only to
…information relating to any particular land or business…and not to estimates or returns, so that in this case the deletion of "and information" would nullify the whole reference to the Agriculture Act in Clause 12
§ and so deny the benefits of the Clause to the agricultural community. I do not believe this is what the sponsors of the Amendment had in mind. Certainly, this would not be acceptable since it is the Government's hope and desire to keep the burden of form filling on the farmers to a minimum. Nor does the Amendment have anything to commend it in relation to the Statistics of Trade Act, 1947. Therefore, I ask the Committee to reject it.
§ Sir D. Walker-SmithI cannot say that I am wholly reassured, but, in view of what I said in moving the Amendment, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the Amendment.
§ Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
§ Question put, That the Clause stand part of the Bill: —
§ The Committee divided: Ayes 217, Noes 206.
393| Division No. 264.] | AYES | [10.45 p.m. |
| Adley, Robert | Eden, Sir John | Hornby, Richard |
| Alison, Michael (Barkston Ash) | Edwards, Nicholas (Pembroke) | Hornsby-Smith,Rt.Hn.DamePatricia |
| Allason, James (Hemel Hempslead) | Elliot, Capt. Walter (Carshalton) | Howe, Hn. Sir Geoffrey (Reigate) |
| Amery, Rt. Hn. Julian | Elliott, R. W. (Nc'tle-upon-Tyne.N. | Howell, David (Guildford) |
| Astor, John | Emery, Peter | Howell, Ralph (Norfolk, N.) |
| Atkins, Humphrey | Eyre, Reginald | Iremonger, T. L. |
| Awdry, Daniel | Fenner, Mrs. Peggy | James, David |
| Balniel, Lord | Fidler, Michael | Jessel, Toby |
| Batsford, Brian | Finsberg, Geoffrey (Hampstead) | Johnson Smith, G. (E. Grinstead) |
| Beamish, Col. Sir Tufton | Fietcher-Cooke, Charles | Jopling, Michael |
| Bennett, Dr. Reginald (Gosport) | Fookes, Miss Janet | Kellett-Bowman, Mrs. Elaine |
| Benyon, W. | Fortescue, Tim | Kershaw, Anthony |
| Biggs-Davison, John | Foster, Sir John | Kimball, Marcus |
| Blaker, Peter | Fowler, Norman | King, Evelyn (Dorset, S.) |
| Boscawen, Robert | Fox, Marcus | King, Tom (Bridgwater) |
| Bowden, Andrew | Fry, Peter | Kinsey, J. R. |
| Bray, Ronald | Gardner, Edward | Kirk, Peter |
| Brinton, Sir Tatton | Gibson-Watt, David | Knight, Mrs. Jill |
| Brocklebank-Fowler, Christopher | Gilmour, Ian (Norfolk, C.) | Lamont, Norman |
| Brown, Sir Edward (Bath) | Goodhart, Philip | Lane, David |
| Bruce-Gardyne, J. | Goodhew, Victor | Langford-Holt, Sir John |
| Buchanan-Smith, Alick(Angus,N&M) | Gower, Raymond | Legge-Bourke, Sir Harry |
| Carlisle, Mark | Grant, Anthony (Harrow, C.) | Le Marchant, Spencer |
| Carr, Rt. Hn. Robert | Gray, Hamish | Longden, Gilbert |
| Chapman, Sydney | Green, Alan | Loveridge, John |
| Chataway, Rt. Hn. Christopher | Grieve, Percy | Luce, R. N. |
| Churchill, W. S. | Griffiths, Eldon (Bury St. Edmunds) | McAdden, Sir Stephen |
| Clark, William (Surrey, E.) | Grylls, Michael | McCrindle, R. A. |
| Clegg, Walter | McLaren, Martin | |
| Cockeram, Eric | Gummer, Selwyn | Maclean, Sir Fitzroy |
| Cooke, Robert | Gurden, Harold | McNair-Wilson, Michael |
| Coombs, Derek | Hall, Miss Joan (Keighley) | Mather, Carol |
| Cooper, A. E. | Hall, John (Wycombe) | Maude, Angus |
| Corfield, Rt. Hn. Frederick | Hall-Davis, A. G. F. | Maudling, Rt. Hn. Reginald |
| Cormack, Patrick | Hamilton, Michael (Salisbury) | Mawby, Ray |
| Costain, A. P. | Hannam, John (Exeter) | Maxwell-Hyslop, R. J. |
| Critchley, Julian | Harrison, Brian (Maldon) | Meyer, Sir Anthony |
| Crouch, David | Hastings, Stephen | Mills, Peter (Torrington) |
| Dalkeith, Earl of | Havers, Michael | Mills, Stratton (Belfast, N.) |
| d'Avigdor-Goldsmid, Sir Henry | Hawkins, Paul | Miscampbell, Norman |
| Dean, Paul | Hayhoe, Barney | Mitchell,Lt.-Col.C.(Aberdeenshire,W) |
| Deedes, Rt. Hn. W. F. | Hiley, Joseph | Mitchell, David (Basingstoke) |
| Digby, Simon Wingfield | Hill, James (Southampton, Test) | Money, Ernle |
| Dodds-Parker, Douglas | Holland, Philip | Monks, Mrs. Connie |
| Drayson, G. B. | Holt, Miss Mary | Monro, Hector |
| du Cann, Rt. Hn. Edward | Hordern, Peter | Montgomery, Fergus |
| More, Jasper | Rhys Williams, Sir Brandon | Taylor, Frank (Moss Side) |
| Morgan-Giles, Rear-Adm. | Ridley, Hn. Nicholas | Taylor, Robert (Croydon, N.W.) |
| Morrison, Charles | Rippon, Rt. Hn. Geoffrey | Tebbit, Norman |
| Mudd, David | Roberts, Michael (Cardiff, N.) | Temple, John M. |
| Neave, Airey | Roberts, Wyn (Conway) | Thomas, John Stradling (Monmouth) |
| Nicholls, Sir Harmar | Rossi, Hugh (Hornsey) | Thompson, Sir Richard (Croydon, S.) |
| Noble, Rt. Hn. Michael | Rost, Peter | Trafford, Dr. Anthony |
| Normanton, Tom | Scott, Nicholas | Trew, Peter |
| Nott, John | Scott-Hopkins, James | Tugendhat, Christopher |
| Oppenheim, Mrs. Sally | Sharples, Richard | Vaughan, Dr. Gerard |
| Osborn, John | Shaw, Michael (Sc'b'gh & Whitby) | Vickers, Dame Joan |
| Owen, Idris (Stockport, N.) | Shelton, William (Clapham) | Waddington, David |
| Page, Graham (Crosby) | Simeons, Charles | Walder, David (Clitheroe) |
| Page, John (Harrow, W.) | Sinclair, Sir George | Wall, Patrick |
| Parkinson, Cecil | Skeet, T. H. H. | Weatherill, Bernard |
| Peel, John | Smith, Dudley (W'wick & L'mington) | Wells, John (Maidstone) |
| Percival Ian | Soref, Harold | White, Roger (Gravesend) |
| Pike, Miss Mervyn | Speed, Keith | Winterton, Nicholas |
| Pink, R. Bonner | Spence, John | Wolrige-Gordon, Patrick |
| Proudtoot, Wilfred | Sproat, Iain | Wood, Rt. Hn. Richard |
| Pym, Rt. Hn. Francis | Stainton, Keith | Woodnutt, Mark |
| Quennell, Miss J. M. | Stanbrook, Ivor | Worsley, Marcus |
| Raison, Timothy | Steel, David | Wylie, Rt. Hn. N. R. |
| Rawlinson, Rt. Hn. Sir Peter | Stewart-Smith, Geoffrey (Belper) | Younger, Hn. George |
| Redmond, Robert | Stokes, John | |
| Reed, Laurance (Bolton, E.) | Stuttaford, Dr. Tom | TELLERS FOR THE AYES: |
| Rees, Peter (Dover) | Tapsell, Peter | Mr. Oscar Murton and |
| Renton, Rt. Hn. Sir David | Taylor, Sir Charles (Eastbourne) | Mr. Kenneth Clarke. |
| NOES | ||
| Archer, Peter (Rowley Regis) | Ewing, Harry | Leonard, Dick |
| Armstrong, Ernest | Faulds, Andrew | Lestor, Miss Joan |
| Ashton, Joe | Fell, Anthony | Lever, Rt. Hn. Harold |
| Atkinson, Norman | Fisher, Mrs. Doris(B'ham,Ladywood) | Lewis, Arthur (W. Ham, N.) |
| Bagier, Gordon A. T. | Fitch, Alan (Wigan) | Lewis, Ron (Carlisle) |
| Barnett, Guy (Greenwich) | Fletcher, Raymond (Ilkeston) | Lipton, Marcus |
| Baxter, William | Fletcher, Ted (Darlington) | Lomas, Kenneth |
| Benn, Rt. Hn. Anthony Wedgwood | Foley, Maurice | Loughlin, Charles |
| Bennett, James (Glasgow, Bridgeton) | Foot, Michael | Lyon, Alexander W. (York) |
| Biffen, John | Fraser, John (Norwood) | Lyons, Edward (Bradford, E.) |
| Bishop, E. S. | Gilbert, Dr. John | Mabon, Dr. J. Dickson |
| Boardman, H. (Leigh) | Ginsburg, David (Dewsbury) | McBride, Neil |
| Body, Richard | Golding, John | McCartney, Hugh |
| Booth, Albert | Gordon Walker, Rt. Hn. P. C. | McElhone, Frank |
| Brown, Bob (N'c'tle-upon-Tyne,W.) | Gourlay, Harry | Mackenzie, Gregor |
| Buchanan, Richard (G'gow, Sp'burn) | Grant, George (Morpeth) | McMillan, Tom (Glasgow, C.) |
| Butler, Mrs Joyce (Wood Green) | Grant, John D. (Islington,E.) | McNamara, J. Kevin |
| Campbell, I. (Dunbartonshire, W.) | Griffiths, Eddie (Brightside) | Mahon, Simon (Bootle) |
| Cant, R. B. | Griffiths, Will (Exchange) | Marquand, David |
| Carmichael, Neil | Hamilton, William (Fife, W.) | Marsden, F. |
| Carter, Ray (Birmingh'm, Northfield) | Hamling, William | Marshall, Dr. Edmund |
| Carter-Jones, Lewis (Eccles) | Hardy, Peter | Mason, Rt. Hn. Roy |
| Clark, David (Colne Valley) | Harrison, Walter (Wakefield) | Mellish. Rt. Hn. Robert |
| Cocks, Michael (Bristol, S.) | Hart, Rt. Hn. Judith | Mendelson, John |
| Cohen, Stanley | Hattersley, Roy | Mikardo, Ian |
| Coleman, Donald | Hooson, Emlyn | Millan, Bruce |
| Concannon, J. D. | Horam, John | Miller, Dr. M. S. |
| Cox, Thomas (Wandsworth, C.) | Houghton, Rt. Hn. Douglas | Milne, Edward |
| Crawshaw, Richard | Howell, Denis (Small Heath) | Mitchell, R. C. (S'hampton, Itchen) |
| Crossman, Rt. Hn. Richard | Hughes, Rt. Hn. Cledwyn (Anglesey) | Moate, Roger |
| Cunningham, Dr. J. A. (Whitehaven) | Hughes, Robert (Aberdeen, N.) | Molloy, William |
| Dalyell, Tam | Hughes, Roy (Newport) | Molyneaux, James |
| Darling, Rt. Hn. George | Janner, Greville | Morgan, Elystan (Cardiganshire) |
| Davidson, Arthur | Jay, Rt. Hn. Douglas | Morris, Alfred (Wythenshawe) |
| Davies, Denzil (Llanelly) | Jenkins, Hugh (Putney) | Morris, Rt. Hn. John (Aberavon) |
| Davis, Clinton (Hackney, C.) | Jenkins, Rt. Hn. Roy (Stechford) | Morrison, Charles |
| Davis, Terry (Bromsgrove) | John, Brynmor | Mulley, Rt. Hn. Frederick |
| Deakins, Eric | Johnson, James (K'ston-on-Hull, W.) | Murray, Ronald King |
| de Freitas, Rt. Hn. Sir Geoffrey | Johnson, Walter (Derby, S.) | Oakes, Gordon |
| Doig, Peter | Jones,Rt.Hn.SirElwyn(W.Ham,S.) | Ogden, Eric |
| Dormand, J. D. | Jones, Gwynoro (Carmarthen) | O'Halloran, Michael |
| Douglas, Dick (Stirlingshire, E.) | Judd, Frank | O'Malley, Brian |
| Douglas-Mann, Bruce | Kaufman, Gerald | Orbach, Maurice |
| Driberg, Tom | Kelley, Richard | Orme, Stanley |
| Duffy, A. E. P. | Kerr, Russell | Oswald, Thomas |
| Dunn, James A. | Kilfedder, James | Padley, Walter |
| Dunnett, Jack | Kinnock, Neil | Paget, R. T. |
| Edelman, Maurice | Lambie, David | Palmer, Arthur |
| Edwards, Robert (Bilston) | Lamborn, Harry | Parry, Robert (Liverpool, Exchange) |
| Edwards, William (Merioneth) | Lamond, James | Peart, Rt. Hn. Fred |
| Ellis, Tom | Latham, Arthur | Pendry, Tom |
| English, Michael | Leadbitter, Ted | Pentland, Norman |
| Evans, Fred | Lee, Rt. Hn. Frederick | Perry, Ernest G. |
| Powell, Rt. Hn. J. Enoch | Silkin, Hn. S. C. (Dulwich) | Urwin, T. W. |
| Prentice, Rt. Hn. Reg. | Silverman, Julius | Varley, Eric G. |
| Prescott, John | Skinner, Dennis | Walker, Harold (Doncaster) |
| Price, J. T. (Westhoughton) | Small, William | Walker-Smith, Rt. Hn. Sir Derek |
| Probert, Arthur | Smith, John (Lanarkshire, N.) | Wallace, George |
| Reed, D. (Sedgefield) | Spearing, Nigel | Weitzman, David |
| Rhodes, Geoffrey | Spriggs, Leslie | Wellbeloved, James |
| Roberts,Rt.Hn.Goronwy(Caernarvon) | Stallard, A. W. | White, James (Glasgow, Pollok) |
| Rodgers, William (Stockton-on-Tees) | Stoddart, David (Swindon) | Whitlock, William |
| Roper, John | Stonehouse, Rt. Hn. John | Wilson, Alexander (Hamilton) |
| Rose, Paul B. | Strang, Gavin | Wilson, Rt. Hn. Harold (Huyton) |
| Ross, Rt. Hn. William (Kilmarnock) | Summerskill, Hn. Dr. Shirley | Wilson, William (Coventry, S.) |
| Rowlands, Ted | Swain, Thomas | Woof, Robert |
| Sandelson, Neville | Taverne, Dick | |
| Shore, Rt. Hn. Peter (Stepney) | Thomas, Jeffrey (Abertillery) | TELLERS FOR THE NOES: |
| Short,Rt.Hn.Edward (N'c'tle-u-Tyne) | Torney, Tom | Mr. James Hamilton and |
| Silkin, Rt. Hn. John (Deptford) | Turton, Rt. Hn. Sir Robert | Mr. Joseph Harper. |
§ Clause 12 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
§ It being after Eleven o'clock, The CHAIRMAN left the Chair to report Progress and ask leave to sit again, pursuant to the Order of 2nd May.
§ Committee report Progress; to sit again tomorrow.