§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Phillimore.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly:
§ [The EARL OF ONSLOW in the Chair.]
§ Clauses 1 to 4 agreed to.
§ Clause 5:
§ Definitions.
§
5. For the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:—
The expression "forced labour" means all work or service exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for its non-performance and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily;
§ LORD PHILLIMORE moved to add to the definition of forced labour, "but shall not include any work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military service laws for work of a purely military character." The noble Lord said: I need not detain your Lordships for more than a moment. I intimated on Second Reading that owing to a failure to understand the construction, if I may put it so, of my own Bill, I did not include this exception, which was included by the drafting convention of the International Labour Conference. The result of not including this exception would be to put on a presumptive black list such countries as France, where a certain amount of work of a military character is carried out by military forces. I do not feel that it is necessary for me to explain the matter further and I beg to move the Amendment standing in my name.
§ Amendment moved—
§ Page 2, line 25, at end insert the said words.—(Lord Phillimore.)
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 5, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clause agreed to.