Orders of the Day — WILLS, &c. (PUBLICATION) BILL

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 10 April 1959.

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Photo of Sir Harry Hylton-Foster Sir Harry Hylton-Foster , City of York 12:00, 10 April 1959

A dark suspicion has, for the first time this day, entered my mind. The hon. Member for Sunderland, North (Mr. Willey) may be a very skilled fisherman, a caster of flies, but he was going a little far when he rose and said that he wanted some guidance about what to do on this Amendment and then made the speech which he did. I speak for this purpose only as the Government spokesman. As the Government do not wish to express any view about this Amendment in any way, I am not in a strong position to assist the House.

I will venture to summarise the discussion by saying that, of course, the destination to which valuable works of art go is a matter of great public interest, and it would be a disaster if they became lost to sight through some lack of information as to where they had gone. On the other hand, I should think it would be highly embarrassing to be a magistrate charged with the duty of deciding aye or no whether a criminal offence was committed when the criterion was governed by the vague factors contained in these Amendments. Such help I give, Mr. Speaker.