WARTIME CHANGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20492, 28 February 1941, Page 5

WARTIME CHANGE

M.P’S MAY HOLD SEAT FILLING CROWN OFFICE BILL BEFORE COMMONS PLEDGE BY PREMIER (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 11.30 a.m. RUGBY, Feb. 27. In the House of Commons the Temporary Provisions Bill passed its second reading to-day. * The measure provides that where a member of the House of Commons is appointed to office under the Crown which the Prime Minister certifies to be in the national interest for the successful prosecution of the war, such member is entitled to hold his seat in the House. The Attorney - General, Sir Donald Somervell, in moving the second reading, reviewed the history of the principle dating from the reign of Queen Anne, which laid down that a member holding an office of profit under the Crown should submit himself to his constituents for re-election and detailed the anomalies and contradictions which subsequent Acts of Parliament created. He stated that the bill was a wartime measure and announced a proposal for the creation of a select committee to consider the whole subject and reduce the situation to an order suited to modern times would be accepted by the Government. Mr. Churchill’s View The Prime Minister, Mr. Winston Churchill, in the course of a speech supporting the bill, said that no fundamental constitutional principles were at stake and the Government must be given unfettered discretion to select the best men for vital work. Any suggestion that the Government would abuse the powers for which it asked must be treated as A question of confidence in the Government. He concluded by saying that it was the policy of this Government to raise and sustain the personal status of members of Parliament in every possible manner. “It is my deliberate policy as leader of the House of Commons to do so and we shall always be careful, as I have been, of the safety and dignity of the House,” said Mr. Churchill. “I am sure after this war is over, this institution, which we cherish and serve, will have gained by having in its ranks large numbers of members who have played important parts in the great days through which we shall have passed, and have their share in winning the fruits of victory which we and other Parliaments will then enjoy.”