EARL of RONALDSHAYasked the Home Secretary if he is aware that, as a result of an Early Closing Order under the Shops Act, 1912, recently sanctioned for the boroughs of Hackney and Stoke Newington, the shopkeepers on one side of the Blackstock Road are obliged to close their shops while they see their business appropriated by the shopkeepers on the other side of the road; if, under these circumstances, he has power to exempt boundary roads from the operation of the Order or, in the alternative, to extend the Order to shops on both sides of the road; and, if so, will he consider the desirability of exercising his power in this case?
§ Mr. HERBERT SAMUELThis Order has not yet come into force. I am in communication with the London County Council in regard to the point raised by the Noble Lord, and the matter shall be carefully considered before the Order is confirmed.