Oral Answers to Questions — British Army – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 5 Mehefin 1945.
Mr Ellis Smith
, Stoke-on-Trent Stoke
12:00,
5 Mehefin 1945
asked the Prime Minister the broad policy that is to be carried out by the Control Commission for German industry; who are the British members and the concerns with which they are or were associated; what consultations have been held with employers' organisations or trade associations in this country; if plans are being considered about the relationship between British and German industry and about the selection of industrialists to visit Germany; and whether German undertakings could be utilised as sub-contractors to British concerns.
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
All this will be looked into very carefully, but not to-day. The Economic Division, which will be part of the British element of the Commission concerned with industry, is at work upon the whole subject.
Mr Ellis Smith
, Stoke-on-Trent Stoke
But is the Prime Minister aware that already consultations are taking place with the employers' associations in this country, and that I have a circular in my hand proving that they have been in consultation with the Control Commission? Will the Prime Minister give an undertaking that no private profit will be allowed to be made out of any transactions carried out by the Control Commission? Will he, further, give an assurance that no British concern will be allowed to use German firms as subcontractors?
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
I could not possibly give an instructive answer to the House on all those very complicated questions. I am sure we all agree that no profit should ever be made by any British person out of any such matter. I can take that as a starting point but I cannot guarantee that a loss must be made.
Mr Ellis Smith
, Stoke-on-Trent Stoke
What is the explanation of these consultations that have been taking place?
Mr Ellis Smith
, Stoke-on-Trent Stoke
The consultations between the Employers' Association, the British Engineers' Association, and the British element of the Control Commission. Can we be given an assurance that nothing of the character raised in the question will be carried out without consulting Parliament?
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
I began my answer by saying that all this will be looked into very carefully, and I should be glad if my hon. opponent will kindly send me the paper he mentions, and I will have it sent to the proper authority. Of course, there is vast confusion reigning over the whole of Germany at the present time. It can only be steadied up reasonably, but I agree that the matters touched upon here by the hon. Gentleman require to be defined in terms of principle.
Mr Aneurin Bevan
, Ebbw Vale
Have His Majesty's Government reached any directives to the Control Commission on these matters because, on this side of the House, some of us have seen some of these, at least provisional directives; and when is the House to be told what they are?
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
We have been stricken recently by the departure of many of our friends with whom we were studying these matters in concert, but I certainty see the need for a directive on these matters.
Mr Ernest Bevin
, Wandsworth Central
May I ask my right hon. Friend whether his last remark is a suggestion that his late colleagues who have left his Government have shown private papers to persons outside the Government?
Mr Winston Churchill
, Epping
I cannot conceive, even by the most energetic exercise of my imagination, how any such train of thought could have arisen in my right hon. Friend's mind.
The House of Commons votes by dividing. Those voting Aye (yes) to any proposition walk through the division lobby to the right of the Speaker and those voting no through the lobby to the left. In each of the lobbies there are desks occupied by Clerks who tick Members' names off division lists as they pass through. Then at the exit doors the Members are counted by two Members acting as tellers. The Speaker calls for a vote by announcing "Clear the Lobbies". In the House of Lords "Clear the Bar" is called. Division Bells ring throughout the building and the police direct all Strangers to leave the vicinity of the Members’ Lobby. They also walk through the public rooms of the House shouting "division". MPs have eight minutes to get to the Division Lobby before the doors are closed. Members make their way to the Chamber, where Whips are on hand to remind the uncertain which way, if any, their party is voting. Meanwhile the Clerks who will take the names of those voting have taken their place at the high tables with the alphabetical lists of MPs' names on which ticks are made to record the vote. When the tellers are ready the counting process begins - the recording of names by the Clerk and the counting of heads by the tellers. When both lobbies have been counted and the figures entered on a card this is given to the Speaker who reads the figures and announces "So the Ayes [or Noes] have it". In the House of Lords the process is the same except that the Lobbies are called the Contents Lobby and the Not Contents Lobby. Unlike many other legislatures, the House of Commons and the House of Lords have not adopted a mechanical or electronic means of voting. This was considered in 1998 but rejected. Divisions rarely take less than ten minutes and those where most Members are voting usually take about fifteen. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P9 at the UK Parliament site.
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