Weights and Measures Bill Criticized
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THE clause in the Weights and Measures Bill which says inspectors cannot stop vehicles on the highway came in for fierce criticism when the Commons discussed the Bill this week. Opposition Front Bench speaker, Mr. George Darling, made special mention of coal carts, and thought that, .. instead of improving the law on the side of the consumer and giving him greater protection, the Bill, in point of fact, made the law. weaker.
Mr. Arthur .Holt (Liberal, Bolton West) pointed out that inspectors had sweeping powers under the Bill. They were authorized to check and inspect, to enforce the regulations, to seize documents, to order the unloading of vehicles and to have vehicles cheek-weighed.
Dealing with the question of whether scales should be carried on lorries, Mr. David Price, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, noted that the Hodgson Committee—whose recommendations formed the basis of much of the Bill—had recommended that the supplier should not be asked to go on doing that. But this and other points, he said, would be dealt with in committee.
The measure was given its second reading, and will now be discussed, clause by clause, in committee.