Mr George Lane-Fox: I should like to repeat what my right hon. Friend has said. My recollection is that, when the point was raised in Committee, the Minister's objection to these words was that they were perfectly meaningless and could not be enforced. We all welcome the pious opinion that these farms will be run on an economic basis, but I should like him to tell us what is going to be the effect. Does it mean...
Mr George Lane-Fox: There are many counties which at the present moment are doing well and carrying out their duty in regard to the provisions of smallholdings, and I do not think it would be advisable to withhold from them the privileges that other counties have got. This Bill seems to be creating a new class of subsidised smallholders.
Mr George Lane-Fox: What I am afraid of is that under the terms of this Bill the conditions will be altered. I suggest that many county councils have carried out their duty, and have done their work very well in this respect.
Mr George Lane-Fox: It is always difficult for anyone to follow a speech delivered by the right hon. and learned Gentleman the Member for Spen Valley (Sir J. Simon) and it may seem an impertinence on the part of one who went out to India as a member of the Commission under his leadership to follow him on this occasion, or to seek to add anything to the speech which he has just delivered. But I would like to take...
Mr George Lane-Fox: I am sure that the House listened with great sympathy and interest to the speech of the hon. Lady the Member for North Lanark (Miss Lee), but I suggest to the hon. Lady that in allowing the expedient of the spread-over to go by the board, by supporting the Government, is not a kind and generous action to Scottish owners. I do not wish to follow her along the lines as to how the coal industry...
Mr George Lane-Fox: I think a very strong case has been made out for the adoption of this Amendment. We have had a very courteous reply from the Solicitor-General, but when all the arguments are going so strongly against the Government it is very unfortunate for us that there have been so few Members on the Socialist benches to appreciate the case that has been made against them. There is one case which has...
Mr George Lane-Fox: I beg to move, in page 15, line 13, to leave out the word "thirty," and to insert instead thereof the word "forty-two."
Mr George Lane-Fox: As this Debate goes on the Committee must be more and more convinced that there is a great deal of genuine agricultural land which will have to pay land tax under the proposals of this Bill. All that we ask is that land which is genuinely being used for agricultural purposes should be exempt from that tax. All round our towns are tracts of land which represent a very valuable source of food...
Mr George Lane-Fox: I think that the real cause for anxiety in regard to the Government's refusal to consider any later date for the bringing of this tax into operation is the proof that it gives that they are intending to hustle through the valuation, which will mean very great injustice to those who will have to pay the tax. This tax is going to affect my constituency very considerably. Above all, it is...
Mr George Lane-Fox: 18. asked the Secretary of State for India whether, to avoid the danger of disappointment to him and misunderstanding in India, it will be made clear to Mr. Gandhi, before he starts for England from India, that the safeguards set out at the Round Table Conference form an essential condition of the consideration by Parliament of any federal scheme of government for India?
Mr George Lane-Fox: Will it be made quite clear to Mr. Gandhi before he comes to this country that these are not mere bargaining points and that no compromise in principle will be possible at all?
Mr George Lane-Fox: Without entering into the troubled waters that the Noble Lady has endeavoured to stir up, I should like to make one or two remarks on what the Secretary for Mines has said about this Bill. He will remember that he promised that there would be an absolutely independent committee, and the reason why we asked for it was that on this occasion, for the first time in its history, this Bill was not...
Mr George Lane-Fox: 7. asked the Secretary for Mines whether he has yet been able to set up his promised independent committee of inquiry into the working of the Miners' Welfare Fund; and whether he can state its terms of reference and the names of its chairman and members?
Mr George Lane-Fox: I think it only fair to the Mining Association for someone to say that the hon. Member should have taken more trouble to secure agreement, which he might have secured and which is so very necessary. The Secretary for Mines cannot have taken much trouble to secure agreement. He has told us that he saw the Mining Association in October last and apparently made no further move to get into touch...
Mr George Lane-Fox: There is one point on which we have not had much discussion. I presume that the Minister who is arranging to carry out these very considerable works has in mind the organisation through which he proposes to do the work. In the ordinary way the running of an agricultural estate involves a considerable staff—masons, joiners, bricklayers, are all required; there has to be a considerable...
Mr George Lane-Fox: Can the right hon. Gentleman give me an answer to the questions I have put to him? He is definitely accepting a liability to execute certain works, and I ask him how he is going to execute them. He merely says that it is not necessary for us to consider that now. I suggest it will be necessary to have a, large organisation, and I want to know whether he has got it or is going to get it.
Mr George Lane-Fox: The speech which has just been made by the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland shows very clearly the financial reckless ness of this Measure. The Amendment we are discussing does not propose that there should be Lo power of borrowing, but that there should be a limit placed upon that power, and if the Government think that limit is too great, then it is for the Government to suggest sonic...
Mr George Lane-Fox: I believe that the hon. Member for Central Bristol (Mr. Alpass) is the only one who has had any practical experience in the running of a farm. [HON. MEMBERS: "No!"] Our objection to the financial proposals of this Bill are based on practical experience, and I hope the House will not allow the Government to have unlimited credit in pursuing their policy.
Mr George Lane-Fox: I beg to second the Amendment. I do not think that many words are required, because I cannot imagine, unless there is some technical reason against it, that the Government would wish to refuse the Amendment. There might, of course, be some reason—and we should be told—why the Amendment is not thought necessary. Obviously the person who, above all others, should have the first opportunity...
Mr George Lane-Fox: If there is anything to make us doubtful of how the Clause will work, it was the speech of the Minister just before he left the House. Personally, I would far rather see the duty of reclamation put in the hands of a county agricultural committee consisting largely of men of experience who do not waste money. Take the case of the notorious gentleman in Hampshire. What is he going to do about...