Clause 18
Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill
4:15 pm
Laurence Robertson (Shadow Minister, Northern Ireland; Tewkesbury, Conservative)
I welcome you to the Committee, Mr. Atkinson. I apologise for arriving slightly late for this afternoon’s sitting. I do not want to speak for long on the clause, but I am slightly concerned about the power that it gives to the Secretary of State. I was wondering whether the Minister would explain why it is necessary. As one or two hon. Members have commented to me, we spend time on a Bill and then we reach clause 18, which shows that it can all change by order.
Clause 18(2) states:
“The provision that may be made under subsection (1) includes provision amending or modifying—
(a) any provision of the 2000 Act;
(b) Schedule 2A to the 1983 Act”.
The clause is wide-ranging. Will the Minister explain why it is necessary to have such wide-ranging powers?
Conservative Members feel that if issues are important enough they should be in the Bill. We can then see what we are considering passing or rejecting, and have the opportunity to debate the issues, not just in statutory instrument Committees, which inevitably contain only a limited number of hon. Members. If things are in the Bill, the whole House has the opportunity to discuss them. So, will the Minister explain why clause 18 is necessary?