Part of Orders of the Day — Dog Racecourse Betting (Temporary Provisions) Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 21 March 1947.
Mr Charles Challen
, Hampstead
12:00,
21 March 1947
The proposed new Clause is very reasonable and I cannot understand why the right hon. Gentleman cannot accept it. Did it occur to him in considering the draft of the Bill that it might be a very elegant ornament to this Measure? It gives the Home Secretary complete power to do what he likes. If it is considered desirable and necessary in any particular area to make an exemption in certain cases, he can do so. It gives him power to meet all the criticisms which have been made on both sides of the House during Second Reading. It has been pointed out that in the case of the Greyhound Racing Association, we cannot act as in the case of other sports. No doubt that is true, but this Clause gives the Home Secretary the same liberty as he would have had if this had been a case where there was no necessity for legislation. The Home Secretary should consider modifying the Bill at some suitable stage to this extent. There is hardly a Member who has confessed to having been to a greyhound racing meeting. I have not been to a meeting, and I do not think I ever shall. I have no interest in greyhound racing, and it is not a sport which appeals to me. I have had a good deal of correspondence from people who feel they are being treated very hardly in this matter. This is a Clause which enables the Home Secretary to mitigate that hardship very substantially if he wishes.
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