It appeared to me that the hon. Member for Rochdale (Dr. Morgan), instead of bringing to bear the heavy artillery which we know he is capable of handling, on the principles of the Bill, has been bringing some lighter artillery against points which I believe we should discuss on Committee stage. Indeed, what has come out of the excellent Debate we have had is that no one has really attacked the principles of the Bill at all and the greater part of the argument has been directed to supporting the principles of the Bill or to what I believe are Committee points.

I agree wholeheartedly with my right hon. and gallant Friend the Member for the Scottish Universities (Lieut.-Colonel Elliot), and with the Secretary of State for Scotland that the nursing profession is one of the noblest professions in the world and certainly in our country. It holds, has held and, we believe, will continue to hold, the affection of the general public. In days gone by, nurses underwent a very rigorous form of training and the talent and capacity of nurses came out of what I can only suggest was a very heavy ordeal. Our nurses in Scotland are known throughout the world as of the very best and we are all extremely proud of them.

Our trouble today is that we are short of nurses. No doubt there are good reasons for that and we have had some laid before us in regard to human relations, training and one thing and another. After all, times change and people's views change and we have to allow for those changes. I very much welcome the appointment of the regional training committees, which may do a great deal of good. The whole idea behind the Bill and the principles on which it stands, is surely to improve the training and make nursing more attractive and in these ways to endeavour to stop the wastage which is occurring particularly among the student nurses in their early years.

My right hon. and gallant Friend said on the subject of wastage, that a reasonable wastage in later years may be a good thing but in the initial stages it is very disturbing indeed to find the percentage of wastage to which my right hon. and gallant Friend referred. I have no doubt at all that one of the ways to stop that wastage is to see that there is considerable variety during the years of training. We all welcome this Bill, we hope it will be a great success, that it will maintain the reputation of our Scottish nurses and will give us that additional number for which we long and which is required for the proper management and equipment of our hospitals.