CLAUSES 4 (Accounts of Funds) and 5 (Short Title), ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Part of Orders of the Day — Czecho - Slovakia (Financial Claims and Refugees) Bill. – in the House of Commons at on 24 January 1940.

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Photo of Mr Robert Boothby Mr Robert Boothby , Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Eastern

Before we finally part with the Bill I would ask my right hon. and gallant Friend to give the House one assurance. He has promised to take into account in drafting the Order the views that were expressed in the Debate yesterday by hon. Members on all sides of the House; and I am sure he will bear in mind that there has been, especially in certain quarters above the Gangway on the Opposition side, some criticism of the payments to be made to the bondholders, for which I think there is some justification. There has on the other hand been no criticism whatever of meeting the purely cash claims, which come into a different category; and, indeed, the view has been taken, and expressed by several hon. Members on both sides of the House, that these cash claims should be met in full. What I should like to ask my right hon. and gallant Friend is that, subject to consideration of the points put forward in the Debate yesterday, the Treasury Order will be presented to the House as soon as possible after the passage of the Bill; and that he will give an assurance that he will do everything in his power to expedite the payments that may then be made, in view of the fact that many of the claimants are hard pressed financially, and have already had to wait for a very long time. I realise that there may have to be some delay, but an assurance that it will be as short as possible would, I think, be very acceptable.

Opposition

The Opposition are the political parties in the House of Commons other than the largest or Government party. They are called the Opposition because they sit on the benches opposite the Government in the House of Commons Chamber. The largest of the Opposition parties is known as Her Majesty's Opposition. The role of the Official Opposition is to question and scrutinise the work of Government. The Opposition often votes against the Government. In a sense the Official Opposition is the "Government in waiting".