Clause 7 - Procedure for orders under s. 6
Identity Cards Bill
5:30 pm
Alistair Carmichael (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Orkney and Shetland, Liberal Democrat)
I do not know the answer to the hon. and learned Gentleman's question. I suspect that nobody in the Room does. As the Under-Secretary said, the process is a novel one.
We seem to be tying ourselves in knots for no good reason. If what is wanted is a process that involves proper scrutiny of an important change to the Bill, it is always open to the Government to use the Standing Orders of the House as they exist and bring forward a piece of primary legislation. It seems to me that we are going all around the houses and risking all sorts of difficulties for no good reason. We have a perfectly adequate system.
The Under-Secretary and other Ministers know that, although primary legislation normally takes a significant time, and properly so, it does not always do so. In the last Parliament, I was involved in a number of pieces of legislation relating to Northern Ireland in which all stages in the House of Commons—at least—were gone through in a day. Often, the whole thing was done, and something formed between ourselves and the other place, in two or three days. If there is any urgency, primary legislation need not take long. When there is urgency, it is generally accepted by all parts of the House that it is necessary for matters to proceed.
We are dealing with this issue on a hot and muggy day. We will have the opportunity to return when the leaves are turning on the trees. I suggest that the Minister takes the benefit of that intervening period to consider whether more detail or specification is required on this clause. As things stand, I fear that the Committee would be remiss to let it stand part of the Bill.