Clause 2 - Board's policing objectives
Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
11:00 am
Mr David Trimble (Upper Bann, UUP)
I take the serious point made by the hon. and learned Gentleman. If we had used the term ''take account'' from the outset, there would be a strong argument in the terms that he used. My worry is that removing ''consistent'' from legislation and inserting other terminology is likely to be interpreted by future members of the Policing Board, and even the courts, as indicative of Parliament's deliberate intention to move away from the element of consistency. That opens up rather dangerous territory. The argument shows that although some distinctions may be semantic, there might be consequences—perhaps unintentional consequences—of the semantic games that people are playing. That is why several of the Bill's provisions are ill advised because they will get us into the danger to which I referred.