The public health Bill consultation that the Department of Health is carrying out has, rightly, caused concern and confusion across our community. During the COVID pandemic, the public listened to politicians in the House and in other parts of the United Kingdom demand standards of them that those politicians did not believe applied to them. The public had Ministers tell them how they should behave, but those Ministers did not behave in the manner in which they tried to dictate to others. Now the public are, rightly, sceptical of any attempt to upset that delicate balance between individual liberty and the power of government. Central to any democratic society is the power of individual choice, and any attempt to infringe upon that basic tenet will be, rightly, resisted.

The Intervention last week by the Health Minister into the consultation that his Department is carrying out only added further to the confusion and concern on the issue. As my party colleague Diane Dodds made clear yesterday, it is the Democratic Unionist Party's view that the current consultation is damaged beyond repair. We on these Benches do not underestimate the difficulty and embarrassment that it would cause to the Department to withdraw that consultation, but in the long-term interest of ensuring legislation that is fit for purpose and commands the support of the House and the Executive, we believe that that is the right step to take.

We will work with the Health Minister to get fit-for-purpose proposals, but we will not engage in an exercise that wastes vital time and vital public resources and undermines public confidence in this place. I urge the Health Minister to withdraw the consultation without delay.