Orders of the Day — Agriculture Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 19 March 1958.

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Photo of Hon. John Maclay Hon. John Maclay , Renfrewshire West 12:00, 19 March 1958

One can go on to all sorts of arguments which will widen the issue a great deal.

Surely the reason why we have been getting these admirable results is due to a combination of the 1948 Act and, latterly, the 1957 long-term guarantees which are now becoming effective. It has really nothing to do with the disciplinary powers, and my right hon. Friend said as much yesterday when he went through the case in detail. I do not propose to go through the case in detail again, but the time has come when these powers should not be continued. They are not workable.

I have some figures with which to meet the figures given by the hon. Member for Hamilton about the number of warning notices issued, and things like that. I do not really want to go into the figures because mine are not the same as his, but I think I know where the difference lies. I think that the figures used by the hon. Gentleman are based on those cases where no statutory proceedings were actually taken in the end.