Clause 20 - Short title, commencement and extent

International Development Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:30 pm on 27 November 2001.

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Photo of Hilary Benn Hilary Benn The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development 12:30, 27 November 2001

I beg to move amendment No. 16, in page 9, line 8, leave out subsection (6).

The amendment will remove the subsection on Lords privilege. I hope that it will give the Committee some satisfaction to know that we shall all have agreed to one amendment, albeit that it is a Government amendment.

Amendment agreed to.

Clause 20, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedules 1 to 5 agreed to.

Question proposed, That the Chairman do report the Bill, as amended, to the House.

Photo of Hilary Benn Hilary Benn The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development

I rise to thank you, Mr. Griffiths, for the way in which you and your co-Chairman, Mr. Amess, have chaired our deliberations. I am glad that it has been the kind of marathon that I can cope with and not the sort that you have obviously experienced. Indeed, following my remarks on the programme motion, I discovered that you once ran two marathons back to back on two consecutive days. That shows a commitment that I could not possibly match. We are very grateful for your guidance and support.

I take the opportunity to thank all members of the Committee for their contributions to our deliberations, for the manner in which the amendments were moved and for the nature of the discussions that we have had. I, for one, look forward to returning to some of them on Report.

Photo of Caroline Spelman Caroline Spelman Shadow Minister (Women), Shadow Secretary of State for International Development

I add my thanks to you, Mr. Griffiths, for your chairmanship, and I hope that you will extend my thanks to your co-Chairman, Mr. Amess, who was subjected to one of our protracted, albeit important, debates on clause 1, when we focused on the aims and objectives of the Bill.

The hon. Member for Richmond Park, who is not present, gave me cause for concern at the outset; to my astonishment, she described us as chums. However, the Committee has been conducted in a good spirit of co-operation, which proves that she was right and that it is possible to scrutinise legislation without unnecessary acrimony or point scoring. There was little of that, and our exchanges, including many contributions by Labour Back Benchers—I hope that they found them satisfying—allowed good discussion of all the issues.

Photo of Norman Lamb Norman Lamb Shadow Spokesperson (International Development), Liberal Democrat Spokesperson (International Development)

This has been my first experience of a Standing Committee, and I can almost say that it has been a pleasurable experience. I add my thanks to you, Mr. Griffiths, for your chairmanship.

Photo of Mr Win Griffiths Mr Win Griffiths Labour, Bridgend

May I say, on running two marathons back to back, that the second one was much slower—unlike the Committee, which has consistently worked better and quicker as we moved through the Bill, such is its expertise.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill, as amended, to be reported.

Committee rose at twenty-one minutes to One o'clock. {**vert_rule**}