PUBLIC LENDING RIGHT BILL [Lords]

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 26 May 1976.

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Photo of Mr Norman St John-Stevas Mr Norman St John-Stevas , Chelmsford 12:00, 26 May 1976

I am delighted at long last, and at six hours' notice, to welcome the Bill. I congratulate the hon. Lady on introducing it. Any deficiencies in her script were more than made up by the mellifluousness of her delivery.

We have a lot of people to be thankful to for the fact that we are having this Second Reading debate. We have to be thankful to whoever on the Government Benches was responsible for the error made in respect of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Bill. We have also to be grateful to the private enterprise of my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton (Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop). With some prescience I acquired his advice on procedural matters in respect of the Education Bill a few weeks ago. Let us hope he is equally successful in that direction. Anyhow, one can say about the results of today O Felix culpa, if I may lapse into my native Latin.

The Opposition welcome the Bill in principle. We are not entirely in agreement with some of its clauses but the principle is right.