Clause 152
Coroners and Justice Bill
1:00 pm
David Howarth (Cambridge, Liberal Democrat)
I agree that the code of conduct is important, but we have to get the primary legislation right, so that we do not allow the Government too broad a power. We have to somehow control it by using the code of conduct, which will not be all that clear in individual cases. It is important to get the powers right first so that it is more difficult to use them disproportionately. I am not sure whether it is a conspiracy, though I suspect that the right hon. Gentleman is right, but it has become a habit.
My underlying worry about the clause is that it has become a habit to draw up such statutory powers over-broadly. That is how the problems of detail are solved—not by thinking hard about them and being more specific. It seems that the tendency is to solve them by saying, “We will grab the broadest possible power and leave the problems until later.” That is not good enough. Our duty as parliamentarians is to ensure that the powers are incapable of being used in an inappropriate way.