Mr James Reid: That is a matter of trial and error. Certainly oats should have a couple of shillings added. That is all right. If it is not, I am prepared to go to five shillings. I do not see any reason why one should not. It may very well mean that before long we shall have to go a good deal further. I agree that we must not go above the current market price for seed oats because this must be the first...
Mr James Reid: Are we getting dollars for food which goes to Belgium or Egypt?
Mr James Reid: Mr. J. S. C. Reid (Glasgow, Hillhead) rose——
Mr James Reid: Mr. J. S. C. Reid rose——
Mr James Reid: I beg to move, in page 1, line 5, to leave out from "effect," to "as," in line 8, and to insert with regard to any Bill introduced after the passing of this Act. The Clause would then read: The Parliament Act, 1911, shall have effect with regard to any Bill introduced after the passing of this Act as if— —certain Amendments had been made. The words proposed to be added are not essential....
Mr James Reid: It is an odd theory that the threat of nationalisation improves the efficiency of an industry. But supposing it does, would it not be much more effective if we had the actual Bill here rather than a mere promise of it? If the promise of a Bill spurs on an industry, surely a Bill presented to them would spur it on twice as fast? Therefore, while dissenting from the hon. Gentleman's premises, I...
Mr James Reid: I think the hon. Member for East Islington (Mr. E. Fletcher) has completely misapprehended my argument. The Measure which I said would not receive adequate public attention if this Amendment was not accepted, is not this Measure, but the steel Bill.
Mr James Reid: I should not have intervened had it not been for the astonishing legal doctrines enunciated by the hon. Lady in the first part of her speech. Apparently the bureaucrats think that when the courts find that their, order does not prohibit a certain thing, they are entitled to come and say, "We meant it to prohibit that thing, and we are just going on as if the court had never made their...
Mr James Reid: That I cannot accept for a moment. The hon. Lady, if she knows anything about courts, knows quite well that courts never advise the Government whether legislative action should be taken. It would be very wrong if they did. I have no doubt that in this case it was stated that it would be open to the Government, if so advised, to take certain legislative action, but that is a very different...
Mr James Reid: If the hon. Lady is going to say she had been advised that the decision of the Scottish court was wrong, and accordingly had continued to prosecute in England, and to avoid such conflict she had brought this up for qualification it would have been another matter.
Mr James Reid: I really am astonished. The hon. Lady does not seem to understand that the effect of the Scottish decision in the High Court was to show that all her previous successes had been wrongly made, and if justice were to be done they ought to be washed out. But, of course, the time for appeal had passed. It happens constantly that subordinate courts will reach a wrong decision till they are put...
Mr James Reid: Very well, then. Is it suggested that there are cases which suffer any drawback if they are called upon to obey the terms of the order? We might have had some statement to that effect on the technical, fanning side. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will be good enough to tell us whether it is his view that there is no prejudice whatever to any farmer who obeys this restriction, apart from the few...
Mr James Reid: Will the right hon. Gentleman be able to make a statement by the time the Scottish Estimates are introduced in order that if this procedure is adopted, it can be used in this Session?
Mr James Reid: I beg to move, That the Potatoes (Control of Supply) Order, 1947 (S.R. & O., 1947, No. 2402), dated 8th November 1947, a copy of which was presented on 13th November, be annulled. The Order to which I now desire to draw the attention of the House makes very severe cuts indeed in one of the staple foods of the people, and, before we are asked to accept this order, I think we ought to be told...
Mr James Reid: I have said everything I wanted to say about that. I thought, Sir, that you might, perhaps, take the view tonight as this is of such overwhelming importance to the people of this country, while one must not stray out of Order, one might be allowed casually to make remarks in passing which, on an order of less importance, would be inappropriate. I shall try not to trespass more than I can help...
Mr James Reid: I do not think I said that. I read the right hon. Gentleman's words. We are under the difficulty, of course, that the Minister is accustomed to bringing out his information at Press conferences and I cannot get a full account of what he said. Nobody can. All one can do is pick up bits and pieces in various organs of the Press, which devote as much space as they can to what he says, but can...
Mr James Reid: If the right hon. Gentleman did not say that, then I pass from it, be cause I have no means of telling what he said except by reading what was reported in the Press. I tried to pick out what he said. I do not see all the newspapers every day after his Press conferences, but I try to pick out those bits which appear to me to be interesting and valuable; and if they do not tell the whole story,...
Mr James Reid: Certainly—but it was a straight tip to everybody to buy up as much as he could before the rationing scheme was introduced, a tip which, if my information is correct, was very largely followed, because of the time which the right hon. Gentleman allowed to elapse after that before he took any action. Here is a point with which the right hon. Gentleman really must deal. That statement was made...
Mr James Reid: I was just saying that I did not think it would be in the public interest to draw pointed attention to many of the deficiencies of this scheme. If you draw pointed attention in this House to the deficiencies in a scheme with which we must put up—because plainly the Minister is not able to take back this scheme, and give us another in a reasonable time, it has taken him so long to give us...
Mr James Reid: I doubt whether the hon. Lady has been a very regular attender at the Prayers which take place at this time of night.
