§ Lords Amendment: No. 1, in page 2, line 1, leave out "at the end of" and insert "in".
§ 4.10 p.m.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for Development, Scottish Office (Mr. George Younger)I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
This is a simple drafting Amendment which was suggested in another place. I do not think any confusion could arise from the use of the words "at the end of", but there is no doubt that where one word can be used instead of four it is a good thing.
§ Mr. William Ross (Kilmarnock)This Amendment was suggested not only in the other place but in the early stages of the Committee proceedings, and we were surprised at the obduracy of the Government in not accepting it. Naturally, we welcome the Amendment.
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Lords Amendment: No. 2, in page 2, line 10, leave out "six".
§ Mr. YoungerI beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.
The right hon. Member for Kilmarnock (Mr. Ross) chided me for obduracy. Perhaps I may gently pull his leg and remind him that the Amendment could have been dealt with if he had been less obdurate in the early stages of the Committee proceedings, because he moved a similar Amendment, I accepted it, and he then proceeded to debate the matter for a whole morning, at the end of which the Amendment was not accepted.
The purpose of the Amendment is to delete the word "six". The word does not seem to be absolutely necessary, 1840 although it does seem to add to the clarification of the Clause. Following the argument for economy of drafting, which I advanced in the early stages in Committee as a reason why the Amendment should be accepted, I hope that the right hon. Gentleman will feel better about it now and agree to accept it.
§ Question put and agreed to.