UNIVERSITY DEGREES BILL. [H.L.] (Hansard, 8 November 1933)

§ LORD JESSEL

My Lords, I do not propose to trouble the House to go into Committee on this Bill, but I should like to say a few words. The debates on this and the previous Bill have shown how much importance is attached to the conferment of University degrees. The first Bill introduced dealing with this question was entitled the University Spurious Degrees (Prohibition of Use and Issue) Bill, and the object was to put an end to the traffic in spurious University degrees. On that occasion we had a most interesting speech from the most rev. Primate, telling us all about Lambeth degrees, and another very interesting speech from the noble Earl, Lord Iddcsleigh, about the degrees conferred by Papal Universities. That Bill was very strongly supported at the annual meeting of the Joint Standing Committee of Convocations, held at the University of Liverpool, when the following resolution was passed: That this Committee representing the graduates of the Universities of Birmingham, Bristol, Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield desires to express its approval of the principle laid down in the University Spurious Degrees (Prohibition of Use and Issue) Bill now before the House of Lords, and that the executive of the Joint Standing Committee of Convocations be empowered to take what further steps they may deem necessary. This shows what strong feeling there is on the part of graduates of those Universities. However, that Bill, owing to the objection of the Minister of Education, who under one of its clauses was made the judge of what was a spurious degree, was withdrawn.

I then introduced the present Bill. The Government, through the Minister of Education, Lord Irwin, expressed approval of the principle of the Bill, but it was evident that unless that. Bill was approved of by the older Universities there was no possible chance of its 80 getting through. I gave an undertaking that if they did not approve I should withdraw the Bill. In September last the Universities Bureau of the British Empire, which consists of representatives not only of the Universities of Great Great Britain and Northern Ireland but also of those of the Irish Free State and all other Empire Universities, met and considered this Bill. They raised certain objections, and said they did not consider that even this new Bill quite met their view. However, I have been in communication with representatives of the Association of Scientific Workers, who are very much interested in this Bill, because they feel that men and women 'ho have laboured so hard to get degrees which are of great value to them should not be prejudiced by the assumption of false degrees by other people who are not entitled to them, and they have agreed to meet me and to see if we cannot come to a conclusion. I thought I should make this statement because this Bill is regarded as one of importance by a great many people in this country who are not at all satisfied with the present position; and I only hope that when that meeting takes place the result will be that I shall have the honour on another occasion of bringing forward a Bill which at last in its final shape will have met with the approval of all parties concerned. In the circumstances I beg to move that the Order of the Day be discharged and the Bill withdrawn.