DEVELOPMENT LAND TAX BILL (Hansard, 22 July 1976)

§ Lord JACQUES
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be read a third time. At the close of the debate on Second Reading, in addition to my general reply I was able to answer detailed questions of a technical nature of which I had had notice. Further detailed questions of a technical nature were raised, and I promised to reply to them at Third Reading. I now find that the answers are long and detailed. I have therefore sent a copy of the answers to both the noble Lords concerned, because I did not feel it would be for the convenience of the House to read them this afternoon.

§ Lord LEATHERLAND
My Lords, before this Bill passes to its final stage—

Several noble Lords
Order! Order!

Viscount COLVILLE of CULROSS
My Lords, I will not hold up the noble Lord, Lord Leatherland, for more than a moment. All I wanted to do was to say "Thank you" to the noble Lord, Lord Jacques, on behalf of my noble friend Lord Kinnoull and myself. We shall be greatly edified by reading his detailed explanations, and I am sure they will be very helpful to others who are also interested in this Bill.

§ Lord LEATHERLAND
My Lords, I apologise to the noble Viscount; it was my enthusiasm. Before this Bill leaves us for its final stages in this House, I feel that there are two irregularities which we ought to try to correct. Whether I can correct them by moving Amendments, I know not, but probably the authorities of the House will devise some method to put things right. If your Lordships will look to the back cover of the Bill, where the Title appears, your Lordships will see that it is inscribed as follows: Brought from the Lords 13th December 1976". I have a feeling that it should be "Brought from the Commons", and that instead of "13th December 1976" it should be "13th July 1976".
This little irregularity may be due to a printer's error or it may be due to some clerical oversight, but is there not the possibility of some grave constitutional problem being involved here? May we not find, in years to come, that Erskine May will be recording that in this month in 1976 the House of Lords grabbed from the House of Commons the right to introduce a Bill dealing with taxation, and might that not be a very grave constitutional question? Then, may it not also be suggested that the House of Lords, having dealt with this Bill, having imposed this taxation and having then sent it to the Commons for their approval, post-dated it to the 13th December 1976, with the result that the Bill would not be able to pass into law during this Session but would be pitchforked into the next Session, and so Parliament was deprived of a whole Session's authority in respect of this Bill? I think this can easily be put right, my Lords. I suggest to my noble friend on the Front Bench that he has a word in the proper quarters.

§ Lord JACQUES
My Lords, my noble friend was kind enough to draw my attention to these printing errors yesterday. At Second Reading I apologised to the House for the printing errors, and I had a word in the right quarter, as he now suggests. Therefore, the constitutional crisis will not arise.