Clause 2
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [Lords]
11:30 am
Damian Green (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Ashford, Conservative)
To some extent, that is a perfectly fair point. This is not perfect. Perfection would be to give Parliament the ability to scrutinise publicly and in debate every order that is made. I think we all know that, in practical terms, that is not going to happen.
Where I disagree with the hon. Gentleman is that even if it is a case of looking at things after they have happened, the fact that Ministers will have to make this annual report—and they know that they will have to do so—will act as a brake on them and make them think, “Do I want to write this into the annual report that I know I will have to produce on these matters? Will this look acceptable?” The use of deterrents is an important weapon for Parliament to have.
Again, I am sure that all parties would agree that it is dangerous to allow Ministers almost unfettered power, but that is one of the possible effects of the system that we have. It is sensible for this House to seek to insert itself into that process and to be able to do its proper job. Clause 2 (2)(b) in particular gives Ministers extremely wide powers. Any sensible Minister would welcome the possibility of having some sort of oversight because, of course, one of the long-term effects of effective oversight is that Ministers can often be saved from themselves. The prospect of being scrutinised would give rise to further ministerial self-censorship, and prevent foolish things being done. This is a modest proposal, which I hope the Minister will welcome for his own sake as much as anyone else’s.