§ 3.48 p.m.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, with your Lordships' permission, I should like to make a Statement about the Malta Independence Bill. I should like to thank my noble friend Lord Glendevon for allowing me to speak before he makes his maiden speech.
My Lords, following on the debate yesterday in your Lordships' House on the Malta Independence Bill, I immediately "informed my right honourable friend the Colonial Secretary of the point raised by the right reverend Prelate, the Lord Bishop of Chester, and by the noble Earl who leads the Opposition, regarding the omission from our proposed Constitution of subsection (3) of Section 41 of the Constitution submitted by the Government of Malta to a referendum. My right honourable friend, in reply to a Private Notice Question, has just made a Statement in another place to the effect that he has spoken on the telephone to the Prime Minister of Malta, who has agreed that the matter should be looked into at once.
EARL ALEXANDER OF HILLS-BOROUGHMy Lords, I am much obliged to the noble Marquess for telling what has happened to-day in another place, and for carrying out the main part 1121 of his pledge of last night. The Secretary of State has now got into immediate touch with the Prime Minister of Malta. But, as I understand what has actually been said in another place to-day, they have been given more or less a promise that in any case, as we complied with the request of the Government to give this Independence Bill passage through this House in one day (although that was not referred to this afternoon), the Minister will see that the amendment to the new Constitution will include that part of the referendum Constitution with which the noble Marquess is concerned. So I think we can take it, as we go away from this Session of Parliament, that the Secretary of State has to-day virtually promised to put the matter right. I am very much indebted for that.
I understand that he also said that it showed that the House of Lords could be very useful, and I accept the compliment of the Secretary of State in another place. We owe a very great deal to the right reverend Prelate the Lord Bishop of Chester for having shown the ability to draw this matter to the attention of the House of Lords when we had all been so busy in either Parliamentary or political work and had not fully compared these two passages in the 1961 draft and the 1964 Constitution. We are very much obliged to the Lord Bishop.
§ THE MARQUESS OF LANSDOWNEMy Lords, although I am not aware of what took place in another place, I am very much obliged to the noble Earl for what he says.
THE LORD BISHOP OF CHESTERMy Lords, may I thank the noble Marquess for the rapidity with which he has taken action, and remind him of the great importance we attach to this amendment?