Orders of the Day — Parliament Square (Improvements) Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 14 December 1949.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mr Henry Strauss Mr Henry Strauss , Combined English Universities 12:00, 14 December 1949

I cannot help thinking that the hon. Members for Oxford (Mr. Hogg) and Farnham (Mr. Nicholson) cannot have read the alternative Amendments which this House has to consider. Neither under the Amendment put forward by the Lords nor under that of the right hon. Gentleman can this fountain be destroyed. If the hon. Member for Farnham will refresh his mind by looking at the relevant documents, he will see that what I am saying is perfectly correct. Under both Amendments this memorial has to be kept. The question is, where is it to go? That is the only point on which there is an important difference between the two Amendments, one making the matter subject to a positive Resolution and the other subject to objection by a negative Resolution.

There are two reasons why I advocate the acceptance of the Lords Amendment and disagree with the right hon. Gentleman's Amendment. The first is the serious point put by my right hon. Friend the Member for North Leeds (Mr. Peake). It is a very serious thing indeed that the Parliamentary Secretary and the Leader of the House of Lords both accept an Amendment on behalf of the Government, thus avoiding a Division, and then the Minister next day asks us to disagree with the action taken by the Government only the previous day. On that I support my right hon. Friend.

The second reason why I support the Lords Amendment as the better of the two—and here I speak as an interested party—is that when another hideous memorial, one of the Balzacette memorials on the Embankment, was removed to effect a traffic improvement, it was put down, without the slightest consultation with me. or others affected, in front of my house. I want to secure the maximum possible protection of anyone who might otherwise find that, when this memorial fountain is taken elsewhere, it is dumped in front of his home without giving him the slightest opportunity of objection. On the whole, a positive Resolution of both Houses gives better protection to citizens who might be injured by having this memorial suddenly placed opposite them.

I agree, generally, with the hon. Member for Twickenham (Mr. Keeling) that an absolute assurance should be given that the Royal Fine Art Commission will be consulted about the replacing of this memorial. I feel sure that the right hon. Gentleman will give that assurance; but, even though the assurance is given, I shall still think, for the reasons which I have given, that the Lords Amendment is better than the right hon. Gentleman's Amendment.