§ Mr. Harry EwingI beg to move Amendment No. 54, in page 40, line 8, after 'evening', insert:
'or alternatively be the said periods on weekdays other than Saturday, and on Saturday be the period between one in the afternoon and half-past ten in the evening'.This amendment meets a commitment that I made to the hon. Member for Dumfries (Mr. Monro) in Committee when the hon. Member kindly allowed me to take his proposition to find a suitable form of words for it.
§ Mr. MonroI should like to thank the hon. Gentleman for fulfilling his commitment to redraft my amendment to make it effective. I am sure that many sports clubs throughout the country will be deeply grateful to him for his consideration.
Without trespassing too much on the hon. Gentleman's good will, I should like to say that I am still getting requests from one group of sportsmen—particularly appropriate on a day when we have won a gold medal in Canada. Those who sail are largely governed by the tide and therefore cannot fix their racing for the afternoon, perhaps because there is no water.
Will the Minister consider whether in certain circumstances the closed period from 1st April to 1st September could be extended for certain sports such as sailing in which there are particular difficulties? I only ask him to think about this.
§ Mr. EwingI am prepared to look at that proposition to see what might be done for those sailers with whom the hon. Member has a fellow feeling.
§ Amendment agreed to.