Clause 16 - Drug users: restrictions on bail
Criminal Justice Bill
10:30 am
Mr Hilary Benn (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Leeds Central, Labour)
I am tempted to give the answer that my late mother always gave when we asked when supper would be. She said, ''When it's ready.'' That is the honest answer, and I shall attempt to give an indication in the letter that I have promised to send the hon. Gentleman in response to his very fair point.
I welcome the contribution—in both senses, because it was his first—of the hon. Member for Witney. He helpfully reminded us of the Home Affairs Committee's support for the changes and set out most cogently the case for them. I am with him in the Ronseal camp. Having had discussions with parliamentary draftsmen, I know that there is a tension between the purity of wording and ensuring that it is spare and does not include anything that does not need to be there. That is useful one respect, but it does not always help lay people, myself included, to understand Parliament's intentions. Where these amendments are concerned, I acknowledge that, because the Bail Act has been amended a number of times, things are becoming complicated. We aim to consolidate when time allows.