Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am ar 15 Gorffennaf 1925.
My hon. Friend still does not understand the position. He says we were the Gentlemen oppo- site. Does he not realise that his party were the Gentlemen opposite in 1911? This Act of 1911 was carried by the Liberals. The Conservative party was the Opposition, and, in allowing a proposal of this sort to pass without a word of debate, the Conservative Opposition gravely neglected its duty. Fortunately, the Opposition now is reasonable and efficient, and we cannot ourselves adopt the slip-shod methods which were good enough for the party to which the hon. Member belongs. The fact is, that there was a great deal more reason for incorporating this provision in the Insurance Act of 1911 than there is for putting it in this Bill, and the reason, as I have no doubt the Parliamentary Secretary knows, is that the Act of 1911 left this House in a state of chaos. I believe it was so stuffed with Amendments that it was doubled in size in passing through this House, and it was only by scouring the Civil Service of all its most able officials that it was brought into operation at all.
Under those circumstances, there might have been some reason for these extraordinary powers, but that is not the case here. This is a much simpler and shorter and more concise Measure, and while we have opposed it, I do not think it has been rendered unsymmetrical or damaged by the Amendments which have been carried. As was said in the last Debate, we are at a strategic disadvantage. We cannot get any general sense of the Committee at this stage of the Debate or at this time of the evening, but we have put down a very modest Amendment, simply asking that these Orders should be laid on the Table of the House for 21 days and, if a Resolution is passed in either House asking that an Order should be annulled, the Minister, if he thinks it politic, should accept the opinion of the House on the matter.