Clause 1 - Purpose
Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill
11:45 am
Oliver Heald (Shadow Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs & Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Assisted By Shadow Solicitor General), Constitutional Affairs; North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
Is it not right that even a change not diametrically opposed could be very controversial? For example, the Law Commission is doing a piece of work on cohabitation at the moment. It is reviewing the law governing opposite and same-sex cohabiting couples in clearly defined relationships, considering potential financial hardships suffered by cohabitants or their children on the termination of their relationship by separation or death. If the Law Commission recommends, for example, that some rights should accrue to couples who have lived together for 20 years, the Government could simply say that that applied to all cohabitants with no time restriction at all. One could end up in a situation where a measure that was sensible enough in a restricted way could affect people who had lived together for just a few weeks.