Part of Orders of the Day — Price Commission (Amendment) Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 31 January 1979.
Mr Robert Maclennan
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Prices and Consumer Protection)
12:00,
31 January 1979
I am grateful to the hon. Member for allowing me to correct the impression which he has that I was suggesting that the safeguards are too generous. I was not suggesting anything of the kind. I was suggesting that in some cases they might be too generous and that it would be impossible for us to devise safeguards which did not act in too penal a fashion upon some while being too generous to others. That is why a discretionary system is more appropriate for the needs of industry and the public.
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.
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