EXPORT GUARANTEES AND PAYMENTS BILL (Hansard, 14 April 1970)

§ LORD BROWN

My Lords, in rising to move that this Bill be now read a third time, I should like to take the opportunity of correcting a somewhat misleading comment that I inadvertently made last Tuesday during the course of the Second Reading debate on this Bill. The noble Lord, Lord Inglewood—who, I understand, unfortunately is not able to be present; he is held up by transport— expressed a wish to have a Committee stage in order that there could be a short debate on the Question, that the clause stand part. In answering him I indicated that there was a difficulty, namely, that the Bill was a Money Bill (I am afraid I incorrectly called it a Finance Bill) and, reading Hansard, I realise that I may have implied that because the Bill was a Money Bill we could not have a Committee stage. That, of course, is not the case, because while we frequently— indeed, in most cases, I think—negative the Committee stage of Money Bills, we do sometimes have a Committee stage. In this particular case agreement had 322 been reached through the usual channels to propose to negative the Committee stage, but of course such an agreement is informal and has no force if noble Lords want a Committee stage. As I said in answer to Lord Inglewood, I should my-self have preferred it if more noble Lords had taken an interest in this important subject of export credits; but as I gave the impression that we could not have a Committee stage I must apologise, and I do so now. I do not know whether there is to be any comment on this matter but I now formally beg to move that the Bill be read a third time.