Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 20 Ebrill 1955.
That is true, but since this Motion was put down I have had time to look at the Division lists, and I have looked in vain for the name of the hon. Member for lnce or of any of his hon. Friends, so eloquent and persuasive were the speeches of the then Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House, the right hon. Member for Lewisham, South.
There were some mild fulminations. The right hon. Member for Ipswich (Mr. Stokes), I remember, got peevish about it. I do not think that the hon. Member for Ince made a speech. I have not had time to look at all the debates but his name is certainly not in the Division lists, and that, after all, is the acid test of conviction in this House.
And so, when the hon. Member tells us that he bleeds for the private Member, let me tell him that I bled in the Lobby in 1945, 1946 and 1947. The hon. Member tonight appears before us respected and with a whole skin. He never went to the front line—at any rate, in defence of the private Member. So much for that.
I well remember our ex-colleague Sir Alan Herbert, the independent Member, throwing on the Floor in disgust three Bills which he had prepared and which he was anxious to introduce. He threw them at the feet of the then Leader of the House, the right hon. Member for Lewisham, South as a protest against tyranny. I think they dealt with betting and divorce; not subjects in which I am particularly interested. However that may have been, no opportunity was given for their consideration.
Indeed, one of the best speeches made in defence of the procedure that was followed was made by the right hon. Member for South Shields (Mr. Ede). I have had just time enough to look him up on the subject. He said that we could not go back to the old days when private Members had more time, because there was too much legislation and the House was too busy, but that we might some time get back to having Fridays, with Motions and Bills alternating as now, but not to the full amount of private Members' time of the old days, when there were Wednesdays allotted.
I did not quarrel with that. Parliament is overloaded with legislation. Though it was some years ago, I thought that the right hon. Gentleman made out a good case, though not good enough a case to keep me out of the Lobby, I admit. I bled again on that occasion, and I regret to say that the hon. Member for Ince was one of the butchers.
We have listened to speeches from hon. Gentlemen who have Bills prepared or before the House. May I have the attention of the hon. Member for Leek (Mr. Harold Davies) for one moment? He has a Bill which is at issue here, a Bill dealing with the conditions of non-industrial workers. It is disappointing, of course, when one has had a Bill read a Second time, not to have a chance to take it to Committee. It is a most galling experience.