– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 28 June 1962.
May I ask the Leader of the House whether he will state the business of the House for next week?
Yes, Sir. The business for next week will be as follows:
Can the right hon. Gentleman tell us when the White Paper announcing the Government's views on the Pilkington Report is likely to be published, and will he give us an assurance that there will be a debate on the Report and on the White Paper, if published, before the Summer Recess?
We shall publish the White Paper on the Pilkington Report next week and there will certainly be a debate, in Government time, on the Pilkington Report before the Summer Recess.
The right hon. Gentleman will recall our exchange before the Recess about the Sea Fish Industry Bill and the announcement of Government policy, in another place, that subsidies would in future be paid for vessels bought in foreign shipyards. He will recall that I asked him when we were to have an opportunity of debating this matter. Can he now answer that question? As, in another place, an Amendment carried in Committee was defeated on Report, when will the House of Commons have an opportunity of discussing and voting, if necessary, upon this important change in Government policy?
Speaking from memory. I think that there was a subsequent opportunity to discuss it on an Adjournment debate. I do not think that it would be proper for me to discuss the business of another place on the business submitted to this House. The opportunity to discuss and vote on this matter, is, of course, in the hands of the Leader of the Opposition, if he chooses to use a Supply Day.
Do I understand that the Orders made under this Bill will not be debatable in the House?
No, Sir. I did not mean to imply that at all. That, of course, would provide an opportunity.
Will my right hon. Friend make a statement next week on the progress being made with the report of the Select Committee on Lords Reform? Having regard to the lamentable departure of Lord Hinchingbrooke from the House, would he consider advising the Select Committee that we would like to have an interim report on the narrow issue of whether a peer who is a Member of this House and who has refused the writ of summons to the Upper House might be allowed to continue to sit in this House? Will my right hon. Friend consider advising the Select Committee on those lines?
I think that it would be a mistake to try to give new instructions to the Committee that the two Houses of Parliament have set up.
I am sure that it would be improper for me to make an interim report on a matter which we have referred to a Committee of this importance.
Is the Leader of the House in a position to say whether a debate will take place on the Report of the Royal Commission on the Police and, if so, when?
No, Sir. Apart from the preliminary observations which have been made by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, this is a matter which we are still studying and would like further time to study.
Will my right hon. Friend reconsider including in the business proposed for Monday, 9th July, the matter of the Small Farmer Scheme, because many of us would like to deal with small farmers' problems in far greater detail than could possibly be done in the short time that would be available in that debate?
The business that I have announced is exempt and, therefore, my hon. Friend's eloquence will not be stopped by the clock.
The business before ten o'clock, as he will appreciate, is Supply time, the allocation of which is for the Opposition.
Reverting to the right hon. Gentleman's reply to my right hon. Friend about the Sea Fish Industry Bill, is it not a fact that the House will not have an opportunity of recording its view of the decision to pay subsidies to foreign shipyards, but under the negative Resolution procedure will have the opportunity only to approve or reject an Order for paying subsidies to certain sections of the industry?
Yes, but there will be an opportunity for discussion on the Order. I do not think that the wider issue is affected by what has happened in another place, which, in the end, has had the effect merely of restoring the Bill to the condition in which it left this House.
Can my right hon. Friend say whether, before we rise for the Summer Recess. we will have a debate on Far Eastern affairs, particularly on China and the influence which it is exerting on South-East Asia and India?
There will be many competitors for debates during the last few weeks before we rise and it is at least likely that some of them will cover aspects of foreign affairs. Whether they will cover those aspects I cannot yet say.
May we have an assurance that before the House rises for the Summer Recess the Writ for Dorset, South will be issued, as the electors of that unfortunate constituency will otherwise be disfranchised, perhaps until next winter?
One thing is certain—that the Labour Party will not win South Dorset.
I could not give the hon. Member for Brixton (Mr. Lipton) an undertaking in those terms.
Can my right hon. Friend say when we can expect an early debate on the Report of the Jenkins Committee?
I could not give that undertaking. This is an important and valuable Report, but, as I have said, there will be many claimants on the rather limited time for important debates in the weeks left to us.
Does the right hon. Gentleman remember that on Tuesday his right hon. Friend the Colonial Secretary made a statement on the suspension of the constitution of Grenada and that I requested that we should be allowed an hour or two to devote to the subject? Is the right hon. Gentleman ready to give time, if only a couple of hours, to clarify that situation?
I do not have that in mind in the business which I have announced, nor in the programme which I am planning. But I will discuss the matter with my right hon. Friend if the hon. Gentleman wishes.
Owing to the tardiness of the Opposition, will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that we have a full-scale debate on farming, with particular reference to the Price Review, before the Summer Recess?
The Price Review and similar matters are essentially matters of Supply and we would be very glad to debate them if they were put down, but I cannot hold out any hope of Government time for them.