Page:MALAYSIA BILL BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE (Hansard, 11 Juli 1963).djvu/2

 Mr. Macleod The Defence White Paper will be available to the House next Tuesday, 16th July, and an opportunity will be given before we rise, after the House has studied it, to debate it. That will probably be in the final week. I am also confident that there will be an opportunity for a further discussion on Northern Ireland, but I cannot give a precise date for it.

Sir G. Nicholson While the Government's action in the arrangements for the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure will be welcomed on all sides, it brings into relief the widely felt dissatisfaction with the present method of dealing with Church Assembly Measures. Will my right hon. Friend see that consideration is given to whether somethiing more satisfactory can be arranged and adopted by the House?

Mr. Macleod I do not think that that particularly concerns the business of next week, except, of course, indirectly through this Measure, but I recognise the force of what my hon. Friend said, and if there is any way in which I can help I shall be glad to do so.

Miss Bacon Does the right hon. Gentleman expect to finish on Monday the remaining stages of the Children and Young Persons Bill, of which quite a lot still remains? Is he aware that some of us regard the Bill as of supreme importance, dealing, as it does, with the more unfortunate children of the country? Is 1421 he not aware that to deal with it in bits and pieces like this is not good enough?

Mr. Macleod It is a Bill of great importance, and I am sure that the hon. Lady agrees that that is one reason why it is desirable for the Bill to pass through its remaining stages—I agree after proper examination—as quickly as possible. I have announced the business for Monday as the completion of the remaining stages, but I will very carefully watch the progress of business that night and we will see how we get on.

Sir H. Harrison Has my right hon. Friend's attention been called to the Resolution passed by the House on 29th May calling for a greater control of the import of foodstuffs? If so, will he say when he will introduce the necessary legislation or lay the Orders to bring it about?

Mr. Macleod Certainly not next week.

Mr. Brockway Is it the intention to conclude the Malaysia Bill before the Summit conference of representatives from Malaya, Indonesia and the Philippines to consider the recommendation of their Foreign Ministers that this matter should be referred to U Thant and the United Nations with a view to considering whether the peoples desire Malaysia before it is put into operation?

Mr. Macleod I hope that the House will be ready to agree to the suggestion that I have made that we should take all the stages of the Bill on one day. There are ample precedents for this step. The last time that we took all the stages on one day was with the independence of Sierra Leone, in 1961. If this can be done on Friday, it would be appropriate to set it down for the Royal Assent before we rise for the Summer Recess.

Dame Irene Ward Can my right hon. Friend explain a little more why white fish problems are to be discussed so late on Tuesday? Is he aware that in the Adjournment debate which I had on Monday of this week the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said that we should not be debating fish at the usual late hour at night or early hour of the morning? Am I not right in assuming that the Motions on the White Fish and Herring Subsidy Schemes have been put at the bottom of the list of business for Tuesday? If so, how is my right hon. Friend to carry out the undertaking which was given that they would be discussed at a reasonable hour, when everybody's brain was alive and capable of dealing with this very important matter?

Mr. Macleod I hope that Tuesday's business will work out conveniently to meet the very valid point my hon. Friend makes. One of the Bills in advance of this business is a consolidation Measure, and I think that it was the general wish