HC Deb 02 April 1979 vol 965 cc1029-30

7.50 p.m.

The First Deputy Chairman

The first two amendments selected are the manuscript amendments A and B. Amendment A, in the names of the hon. Members for Staffordshire, South-West (Mr. Cormack), Isle of Wight (Mr. Ross), Eastleigh (Mr. Price), Faversham (Mr. Moate), Tiverton (Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop) and Harborough (Mr. Farr), is as follows: in page 1, line 22, at end insert All nominations submitted by the due date already announced, April 5th, shall be valid nominations for the postponed elections. Amendment B, in the name of the hon. Member for Gloucestershire, South (Mr. Cope), is as follows: in page 2, line 4, at end insert: (3) Any nomination submitted for an election which is postponed as a result of this Act shall, if otherwise valid and if not withdrawn, be valid for the postponed election.

Mr. Cormack

I beg to move manuscript amendment A, in page 1, line 22, at end insert: All nominations submitted by the due date already announced, April 5th, shall be valid nominations for the postponed elections.

The First Deputy Chairman

With this we may take manuscript amendment B.

Mr. Cormack

I shall not detain the Committee for long, because the Minister of State has already been kind enough to indicate that he entirely accepts the sense of my amendment. It is moved simply because a number of us are very concerned—I appreciate that the Minister accepts this concern—that the nominations of people who have been properly nominated for the parish council elections, nominations that are in by 5 April, should remain valid. As the Home Secretary explained this afternoon, those nominations would have been invalid as the Bill stands. We believe that that would be wrong. Although we accept that there might well be time for other nominations to be lodged, it would be a grave disservice to those who perhaps spent considerable time having their nominations submitted if they suddenly found that by the stroke of a pen they had to start all over again.

Mr. John

As the hon. Member for Staffordshire, South-West (Mr. Cormack) said, I have accepted the principle of the amendment, but I prefer the wording of the amendment of the hon. Member for Gloucestershire, South (Mr. Cope), and I hope that the Committee will accept that. We shall put right in another place any deficiencies of drafting that may subsequently appear.

Mr. Cormack

I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Manuscript amendment made: B in page 2, line 4, at end insert: (3) Any nomination submitted for an election which is postponed as a result of this Act shall, if otherwise valid and if not withdrawn, be valid for the postponed election."—[Mr. Cope.]

Clause 2, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clause 3 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

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