Clause 11 - Power to make consequential etc provision
European Parliament (Representation) Bill
3:00 pm
Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome, Liberal Democrat)
In introducing the stand-part debate, the Minister helpfully expressed the limits of the application of clause 11. I was developing the view that clauses 13 to 16 were for illustrative purposes only, and that clause 11 gave a rather free rein to a Minister to whom we do not usually like to give a free rein, for various reasons. However, she has reassured me.
There are still concerns about the way in which the democratic arrangements in Gibraltar will be brought into play. When we discussed that this morning, the Minister kindly said that she had been in dialogue with the Chief Minister and the rest of the Government of Gibraltar, and that they had expressed concerns. I ask her to go a little further and to share with members of the Committee, perhaps before Report, any written submissions that she has received from the Chief Minister about aspects of the Bill, so that we are fully apprised of what concerns remain outstanding for Gibraltar. That said, I am more than happy to allow
this clause to stand part of the Bill, with a view to discussing it at a later date.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 11 ordered to stand part of the Bill.