Part of Civil Contingencies Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 4:45 pm on 10 February 2004.
Douglas Alexander
Minister of State (Cabinet Office) and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
4:45,
10 February 2004
Let me endeavour to answer both those points. Last night, while checking that the reply to a query put to me by the Shadow Attorney-General was accurate, I found myself a reading public law case book. One of that book's comments was that we should no longer be haunted by the decision made in Liversidge v. Anderson, although I fear that it continues to haunt some of our deliberations and discussions. On the point about reasonableness, I repeat what I said earlier: we have considered the implications of Liversidge v. Anderson and of subsequent case law. We are satisfied that it is now accepted that the dissenting judgment of Lord Atkin is good law, and that the courts will inquire about the reasonableness of the Minister's belief.
In relation to the specifics of this Bill, there was a question about what reasonableness of belief would mean in the context of particular ministerial deliberations. Clearly, there would be a genuine, objectively reasonable belief; that would be a matter for the deliberation of the courts in circumstances following the judgment exercised by the Minister.
I am not convinced that the hon. Gentleman's case for the need for an element of national interest adds much to the definition of emergency that we have set out, which clearly modernises the essentials of life and the terms on which the whole Bill is founded. The commodities of life were described in the 1920 Act in terms of issues such as locomotion. It is appropriate to
modernise the framework of civil protection, but also to ensure that there is a rigorous and clear definition of emergency. Much of the Committee's recent discussions has covered exactly that point.
A parliamentary bill is divided into sections called clauses.
Printed in the margin next to each clause is a brief explanatory `side-note' giving details of what the effect of the clause will be.
During the committee stage of a bill, MPs examine these clauses in detail and may introduce new clauses of their own or table amendments to the existing clauses.
When a bill becomes an Act of Parliament, clauses become known as sections.
The shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.
The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
