Oral Answers to Questions — Home Department – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 6 December 1973.
Mr Evelyn King
, South Dorset
12:00,
6 December 1973
asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now introduce legislation in order to amend the Shop Hours Act so as to enable working women to shop in the hours of their choice.
Mr David Lane
, Cambridge
My right hon. Friend cannot foresee an early opportunity for Government legislation to amend the Shops Acts.
Mr Evelyn King
, South Dorset
Does not my hon. Friend agree that there are huge quantities of married women doing useful jobs who at present are compelled by circumstances to do their shopping in a single luncheon hour? Would it not be better if there were greater freedom under the law for shopping hours to vary, so that The Times during which West End shops are open need not be the same for suburban or village shops? In such freedom, would not a more sensible shopping pattern emerge, as in many other countries? Is it not time that we caught up?
Mr David Lane
, Cambridge
I agree that it would be good to get more scope, but it is not generally realised that there is a good deal more scope even under the present law than some people think, particularly for late opening, and we have had to give higher priorities to other areas in Government legislation.
Dr Shirley Summerskill
, Halifax
Will the right hon. Gentleman resist any such Amendment to the Shops Acts? Although it might be more convenient for some working women, the Majority of people who work in shops are women, who would resist such a change and would not want to work the long hours that shop workers do on the Continent and in America.
Mr David Lane
, Cambridge
That shows how wise we are to go cautiously.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
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 term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
