Orders of the Day — Land Commission Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 January 1966.

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Photo of Mr Peter Bessell Mr Peter Bessell , Bodmin 12:00, 31 January 1966

May I preface my remarks by adding my congratulations to those which have been paid by right hon. and hon. Members to the hon. Member for the Cities of London and Westminster (Mr. John Smith) on a truly admirable maiden speech, and one which I think was followed with immense interest. We look forward to hearing from him many times in the future.

It is also right, in accordance with the custom of the House, that before speaking on this Bill I should declare an interest, in that I am a director of a property company.

As has been said by the Minister, the Bills falls into four parts, but I think that for practical purposes we can say it falls into two parts, that is to say, the first part which deals with the Land Commission, and the second part which deals with the betterment levy.

There is a wide measure of agreement on both sides of the House on the need for a betterment levy, a means whereby the community shall share in the appreciated value of any land which is developed. Indeed, as has been pointed out by one hon. Gentleman opposite, this has been advocated by the Liberal Party for more than 50 years, but we have not advocated it in anything approaching the form in which it is presented today by the Government. We have advocated it in the form of rating and taxation of site values, and that still remains not only the most radical, but the most realistic, way in which this problem can be resolved.

It is good to see, too, that there has been some rethinking on the part of the Conservative Party on this matter. We have heard from Front Bench Conservative spokesmen in the past year or two, including the right hon. Member for Enfield, West (Mr. Iain Macleod), the right hon. Member for Leeds, North-East (Sir K. Joseph), and this afternoon the right hon. Member for Kingston-upon-Thames (Mr. Boyd-Carpenter), in a speech which, if I may say so with humility, I thought was admirable, also from the Labour Party we have heard from the Prime Minister, and from many other leading Members, that this issue of land racketeering and profiteering which has been going on for all too long is something which they are anxious and determined to tackle.

The objection is one of principle to the first part of the Bill, and the objection to the second part, that is to say, the betterment levy, is one more of detail than principle. When the White Paper was published, we on this bench hoped and believed that it might be possible to give the Bill a Second Reading in spite of our rooted objection to a Land Commission. When the Bill was published we set up a working party which has been doing a great deal of research into the prospects of amending the Bill in such a way that it could be acceptable not just to the Liberal Party, but to the basic principles for which we have fought over the years; but I have to tell the House that the weight of evidence against the possibility of introducing Amendments which could reach that target is so overwhelming that we are bound to vote against the Bill tonight.

The reason why we shall vote against it, as I shall point out in more detail in a few moments, is that the Bill is not a radical one. It does not attempt to deal with the problem in anything like the drastic manner which over the years we were led to believe was the intention of the Party opposite when it was in opposition. The Bill is a disappointment to us. It is a disappointment to radicals throughout the country, and I believe that it is a Bill which Her Majesty's Government will regret should it ever reach the Statute Book.

Had we found that even though it might not meet the demands which we have made over the years for a reform of the whole rating and taxation system, and the whole system of acquiring and selling land, it was possible to give the Bill a Second Reading, because it went some distance towards meeting the requirements which we have stated, we should have been glad to do so, but the truth of the matter is that the Bill—and I regret having to say this—is in direct conflict with the aims which we have expressed, and the principles for which we have fought for so long.

Let us consider, first, the Land Commission. At a time when decentralisation is essential, at a time when regional development has been the corner-stone of the Government's policy, they are proposing to set up a Land Commission which will have wide powers, powers which will over-ride those which they have themselves given to regional boards and councils. The Government are not only in conflict with the Liberal Party on this issue, but in direct conflict with their own policies which they have advocated in regionalism, and for which, to give them credit, they have worked during the past fourteen months.

I believe—and I think that I can say this on behalf of my colleagues—that the work of the Commission would be far better if it were carried out by the regional councils and co-ordinated with the Ministry of Land and National Resources and with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government.