Education Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 22 April 1970.

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In conclusion, the principle of the Bill has been endorsed in four General Elections out of the seven since the war. It has been endorsed by the House on a number of occasions. It was endorsed on 12th February. Parliament cannot allow it to be defeated by what my hon. Friend the Member for Westhoughton called " an accident upstairs ". As an ex-Chief Whip, I do not excuse the accident—by no means. It ought not to have occurred, but it occurred because one Member was ill, another Member thought that he was paired when he was not, and another Member went up to the Private Bill Office. The Opposition Whip got into the Committee Room for the Division by the skin of his teeth. If the doors had been closed 10 seconds earlier, he would have been locked out, and the result would have been quite different.