Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at on 12 May 1924.
I have already made two speeches on this Bill, but I wish to add two words, one of explanation and one of protest. The first is that, in opposing this Bill as I did on the Second Reading, and again in suggesting in Committee upstairs that it should be deferred, I hope the right hon. Gentleman will understand that in nothing that I said was meant a reflection on him personally. Without saying anything derogatory to my own side, I have more hope of getting good from the present Government, I am afraid, than I had from the past, because it was the Coalition Government that made the glaring mistake of 1918 that we are seeking to amend. As we are going to give the right hon. Gentleman two years more in which to turn round, I hope he really will go into this matter and try his best this year to get at what, I admit, is a very difficult matter to solve, and that is to attempt to deal with the Emmott Report, which is blessed on every side of the House. My hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool (Mr. Rathbone), who was on the Emmott Committee, was unable to be upstairs in Committee on this Bill, and I know he has very strong views on this point, so that it is not only on this side of the House that we are anxious to get the matter through. If we have an Autumn Session, which we are all hoping to have, I think the right hon. Gentleman may have an opportunity of introducing a Bill, so that we might get well on with what is a matter of vital importance, both to the teachers and to the cause of education generally.