Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 24 March 1955.
Mr Reginald Manningham-Buller
, Northamptonshire South
12:00,
24 March 1955
Of course one pays attention to everything the right hon. Gentleman says, and in response to him, and in response to the hon. Member for Bristol, South (Mr. Wilkins), I should say that whether a production—to use a colourless word—comes within the description of
'… book, magazine or other like work …"will be a question of fact which will ultimately fall for decision by the court.
I would not agree with the right hon. Gentleman the Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede) that the question whether something constituted a book or not depended on how the leaves were attached together. I will certainly consider whether, for instance, by the insertion of the word "pamphlet" or "circular" the definition in line 5 of the Bill could be expanded, without at the same time making the character of the Bill so extensive that something other than the horror comic could be brought within its scope, because that is not what one wants to do. I can assure the right hon. Member for South Shields that we shall give consideration to his suggestion.
The Amendment deals solely with the question whether the word "newspaper" should be inserted. It was for that reason that I made some reference to the liberty of the Press. I, of course, share the views which have been expressed about the liberty of the small publisher to print what is proper. I was not seeking to draw any distinction, nor is there one to be drawn, between the big publisher and a little publisher, a big newspaper and a little newspaper, the big man and the little man, but I was dealing with newspapers in speaking to the Amendment.
The hon. and learned Member for Northampton (Mr. Paget) seemed to make a rather slighting reference to the way in which his hon. Friend the Member for Stechford (Mr. Roy Jenkins) moved the Amendment, in that he implied that one had not discovered from the way in which it was moved what the Amendment was about. I was sorry to hear that, because I thought that the hon. Member for Stechford had made it perfectly clear. The hon. and learned Member for Northampton seemed to express the view that the "Daily Mirror" clearly came within the scope of Clause 1.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
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During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
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