Orders of the Day — REVEREND J. G. MacMANAWAY'S INDEMNITY BILL

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 April 1951.

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Photo of Mr Julian Snow Mr Julian Snow , Lichfield and Tamworth 12:00, 18 April 1951

It will not have passed your observation, Mr. Speaker, that the first five speakers in this debate were members of the legal profession and, indeed, this whole problem must be resolved on a legal basis. As I listened to the debate I began to feel very sorry for Mr. MacManaway. In fact, the people who I think should really bear the blame are those responsible for egging him on in a way which they must have known was thoroughly unconstitutional.

It has seemed to me that they have based part of their case on the fact that the law, or laws, governing the adoption and return to Parliament of Members of the Church were laws which were somewhat obscure and I think that the hon. Member for Belfast, South (Mr. Gage), used the word "abstruse." Therefore, we ought to examine just precisely what is the attitude of the Conservative Party about laws which are obscure or abstruse. We ought to determine, as a matter of principle, what we are prepared to concede. I imagine that there are many laws on the Statute Book which appear to be out of date and unjust under modern conditions—