§ Lord H. CAVENDISH-BENTINCKasked the Minister of Labour (1) whether he is now in a position to state what steps His Majesty's Government has taken with a view to securing simultaneous ratification of the Hours Convention; whether the French Minister of Labour announced that invitations had been received to attend a further conference of Ministers of Labour; and, if so, by whom these invitations were being issued and to whom;
539W(2) whether His Majesty's Government is prepared to register ratification of the Hours Convention conditional upon the ratification of France, Germany, and Belgium, in the same manner as Italy has done, in view of the desire expressed by the Government at Geneva last month to ratify?
§ Sir A. STEEL-MAITLANDI would refer the Noble Lord to the reply which I gave yesterday to a question asked by the hon. Member for Westhoughton (Mr. Rhys Davies).