Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 June 1964.
Major Sir Henry D'Avigdor-Goldsmid
, Walsall South
12:00,
30 June 1964
I beg to move Amendment No. 16, in page 13, line 45, at the end to insert:
(3) For the purposes of the provisions of the Income Tax Acts mentioned in subsection (1) of this section a company shall be deemed to control, directly or indirectly, not less than one-quarter of the voting power in another company if a third company having such control also controls, directly or indirectly, not less than one-half of the voting power in the first-mentioned company.
I moved a similar Amendment in Committee and withdrew it at the request of my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary, who said that he would consider
the wording. Now, to my infinite surprise, he has indicated that he will accept the wording.
Mr Alan Green
, Preston South
My hon. Friend is right. In Committee, I accepted the spirit and intention of the Amendment, but I asked that we should be given a chance to check the wording, as this is a technical matter. This has been done and it has been found that the wording is as unexceptionable as the spirit and the intention. I urge the acceptance of the Amendment.
Mr James Callaghan
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
I am sure this is an excellent compact between the front bench and a back bench opposite, but some of us would like to know what it is all about.
Major Sir Henry D'Avigdor-Goldsmid
, Walsall South
I was under the impression that the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East (Mr. Callaghan) was present when we discussed this in Committee. I did not wish to take time by going over the matter again.
All that the Amendment seeks to do is to clear up the position in regard to an overseas company which may be controlled by a company operating here. The overseas company may be in a country where, for local reasons, it is not possible to admit of outside control and resort has been made to an intermediary holding company to produce the same result in such a way to conform with the prescribed conditions of the company overseas.
I am sorry that I did not explain this when I moved the Amendment tonight, but it is on the record in Committe. I hope that with that explanation the hon. Member for Cardiff, South-East will be satisfied.
Mr James Callaghan
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee
I speak again by leave of the House. I wondered how Rootes and Chrysler could, in certain circumstances, be included in this.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
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.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
The first bench on either side of the House of Commons, reserved for ministers and leaders of the principal political parties.
