Richard Shepherd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations were made to the Government on the constitutional propriety of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule introduced by the Finance Act 2013 (a) in relation to whether the Rule seeks to make citizens responsible for shortcomings of the legislative process, (b) in relation to whether the Rule requires the courts to give effect to interpretations...
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will review the use of subordinate legislation to amend primary legislation; and if he will propose arrangements to restrict such powers to cases of necessity.
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what arrangements are in place for Parliamentary Counsel to refer to the Law Officers proposals for legislation which appear to Parliamentary Counsel to be compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights but objectionable on fundamental grounds of fairness or legislative propriety.
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what arrangements are in place to ensure that the drafting of statutory guidance, codes of practice and other forms of secondary legislation is of a consistent quality across Government and fit for purpose.
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportion of Acts of Parliament in the present Parliament included a power for Ministers to make supplementary and incidental provision by secondary legislation for the purpose of giving full effect to the Act or for similar purposes; and if he will make arrangements to restrict instances of those powers to cases where they can be justified by...
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes have been made in the structure and working arrangements of the Parliamentary Counsel Office in the present Parliament; and what steps have been taken to ensure that those changes do not adversely affect the quality of legislative drafting.
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which recommendations of Lord Renton's Report on the Preparation of Legislation, Cmnd. 6053, published in 1975, have yet to be implemented; and what arrangements are proposed for the implementation of those recommendations.
Richard Shepherd: I greatly appreciate the speech that we have just heard. It reflects many views that I have held for a very long time. The fear that I express about the current provisions of the Bill is not a criticism of the Ministers who introduced them, but it echoes some of the comments that have just been made by my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab). When we undergo the whole...
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department last reviewed the time taken by the West Midlands Constabulary to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service application.
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what sanctions her Department has available to take against a Constabulary which takes over 90 working days to process a Disclosure and Barring Service application.
Richard Shepherd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her officials last met officials from the Department for Health to consider the effect of late Disclosure and Barring clearances on the employment of hospital and care home workers.
Richard Shepherd: I want to bring the House’s attention back to the excellent speech from the hon. Member for Blackley and Broughton (Graham Stringer). He touched on the central issue—the most difficult issue for me—which is the mutual recognition of other legal systems. I am puzzled why the Opposition should be so devoted to sweeping aside any consideration of something so important for our liberty and...
Richard Shepherd: The Minister will remember the visit of Mrs Merkel to the House of Lords, where she said she was absolutely convinced that what had held Europe peaceful was the EU, whereas I think most people in Westminster Hall today would think that it was, in fact, NATO that did that. Is it not NATO that is really the basis of the security of Europe?
Richard Shepherd: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for allowing me a brief intervention. In the 1980s the mantra of Conservative Governments and Ministers was “No essential loss of sovereignty.” That was haunted right through and dragged across the nation as if there was a truth in it. Any time anyone suggested that sovereignty is a perfect construction in itself, they immediately wanted to tell us why...
Richard Shepherd: If I remember correctly, Maine’s “Ancient law” makes the observation that justice lies in the interstices of procedure. That rubric has survived through our history since it was set and there is a truth in it. Today we are confronted with a motion that is incomprehensible, and with an understanding that seems sly and that is actually a means of trying to incline the public to believe...
Richard Shepherd: Words such as “crooked” and “corrupt” have been used across the Floor of the House in response to the issues before us, yet the police have no reason for action. I just do not understand how one can reconcile corruption as laid out in the forms that my right hon. Friend has pointed out and there being no criminal implications whatsoever. What can be the answer?
Richard Shepherd: I have been in this House for seven Parliaments. Each has seemed to have a different character, but there has been one consistent thread across all that time: the integration within European processes. That has had support on high days, on holidays and in opposition. I see it as a fundamental task of the House of Commons to challenge perceived wisdoms and reflect the responsibilities and...
Richard Shepherd: I will not trade remarks on this matter. I was also born in Scotland, and I am deprived of a vote on something that affects my cousins and my relatives. This has been a Union for 300 years, and we have been united by the sentiments of those people. Not so very long ago—70 years—the Scots, the English, the Welsh and those from Northern Ireland stood together against the greatest danger of...
Richard Shepherd: I am greatly concerned about this measure, and I will just make some observations. The Minister referred to the power that the Home Secretary used to have in relation to something being not conducive to the public good. Its removal created a real difficulty for Governments, but my concern is not the difficulty for Governments; my concern is for the British common law system. This is not about...
Richard Shepherd: rose—