Disqualification
Beattie had enough time to vote in 19 House of Commons divisions but not to make his maiden speech when on 30 November his membership of appeal tribunals under the Northern Ireland National Insurance Act and the Northern Ireland National Assistance Act, and of the County Tyrone Agricultural Committee, came to light. There had been several similar cases where MPs were discovered to hold disqualifying offices and the initial advice was that these appointments might constitute "offices of profit under the Crown" which would disqualify him from being elected. The following day, Leader of the House of Commons Harry Crookshank moved to refer Beattie to the Select Committee on Elections to investigate. Unionist MPs expressed the hope that Beattie's membership of Parliament would be kept by a special Bill if he was found disqualified, as had been passed in the case of other MPs. When the press asked Beattie about the issue, Beattie said he had "no comment to make"; he was then asked what fee he had received for his membership of the tribunals, and replied that "I have a clear conscience on that".
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