The consideration of the Insurance Bill in Committee was then
resumed, the clause under discussion being the eighteenth, which lays down the necessary qualifications of the approved societies. Various amendments are to be made in it, in accordance with Mr. Lloyd George's arrange- ment with the representatives of the friendly societies. Mr. Lloyd George made a general statement with regard to these new proposals, and there was very little further discussion. Wednesday was devoted to the Government's closure resolu- tions for the Insurance Bill, upon which there was a very spirited debate. Mr. Asquith, in the course of his speech, gave it as his reluctant opinion that it would not be possible in future to legislate on large and complicated subjects without having recourse to time-table closure as an established rule. To this Mr. Austen Chamberlain retorted that the real pur- pose of the motion was to establish a precedent for closuring the Home Rule Bill. The resolution was ultimately carried by 230 votes to 163.
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