Clause 6
NHS Redress Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Siôn Simon (Birmingham, Erdington, Labour)
I do not want to detain the Minister on the clause—surely we have done it to death by now—but I ask him to confirm my understanding, which is that opposition to the proposal does not rest on the cost. It is anything but that; the argument rests on the fundamental flaws of a silly add-on to a sensible Bill. The Minister cannot be expected to take a completely vague set of proposals with no detail and assume that they will not have a cost. It seems to me that the Opposition have come up with a wide range of numbers. They completely refuse to put any detailon their proposals. The hon. Member for Southport (Dr. Pugh) says that the Minister cannot have it both ways; by the same token, nor can the Opposition. They cannot give us a half-hearted half clause with half a set of proposals and then damn the Government for not costing them exactly.