Lord Lisvane: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the introduction to the latest edition of the Ministerial Code, they will amend the Prime Minister's reference to "my Ministers" to "Her Majesty's Ministers".
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, if the Government wish the central Civil Service to be as effective as possible, whatever size it is, might they give a higher priority to reducing churn through appointments and postings, perhaps leading to greater stability, a retention of expertise and a greater and more effective corporate memory?
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I had added my name to Amendment 2 in the name of noble Lord, Lord Wallace of Saltaire, but unfortunately it has not made it on to the Marshalled List that I have. I hope that is not an expression of editorial disapproval. I congratulate the noble Lord on his ingenuity in bringing Prorogation within the scope of our discussions. As the Minister will know, I was a little sceptical...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I hope your Lordships will indulge me just for a couple of minutes. The Senior Deputy Speaker has my sympathy because, as he acknowledged a moment ago, these are Motions of nomination. They do not go to the orders of reference of the committees concerned. Freedom of speech in Parliament, as the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, has said, underpinned by Article 9 of the Bill of Rights, is of...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend on securing this debate, her excellent article in the Financial Times and her outstanding speech to move the Motion. I speak as a former member of the Delegated Powers Committee and as a current member of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee. I think, as has been generally agreed this afternoon, both committees have done an excellent job in...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord McLoughlin, on his chairing of the Joint Committee and the magisterial report that it produced. It was a pleasure to give oral evidence to that committee, and also, with my noble friend Lord Butler of Brockwell, to the Constitution Committee and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee in the House of Commons. The Bill now...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I add my warm congratulations to those of others and welcome the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser of Craigmaddie, and the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, who I was very glad to know in a previous life. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a serious effect on the legislative process in terms of quantity of proposals, shortness of notice, difficulty of scrutiny and, insidiously, the confusion of...
Lord Lisvane: There is so much wrong with this Bill that it is hard to know where to start—apart from, of course, warmly congratulating and welcoming today’s maiden speakers, the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, and the noble Lord, Lord Sarfraz. I will make three points. First, on the use—or, I should say, abuse—of delegated powers, the Delegated Powers Committee has done its usual excellent...
Lord Lisvane: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the Constitution, Democracy and Rights Commission to be established.
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I know that I speak for the whole House in wishing the noble Earl many happy returns for his birthday. On a similarly positive note, I hope that he will be able to give us assurances about the authority and independence of the commission, to be demonstrated by its membership, and, above all, an assurance that the commission will not have its card marked by the Government.
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, your Lordships will recall that, over the centuries, Parliaments have been given nicknames to reflect their character. In 1388, there was the Wonder-Working Parliament—if only. In 1404, the Dunces’ Parliament was so called because—this will please my noble and learned friends—upon the instructions of King Henry IV it contained no lawyers. So what shall we call the 2017...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, on a slightly more pedantic level, I will try to assist the noble Viscount, Lord Trenchard, with his earlier question. I think he thought that Lords sitting days had not been statutorily defined. They are actually defined in Section 13(16)—
Lord Lisvane: I promised pedantry. They are defined in Section 13(16) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I start from the premise that there should be a comity between the courts and Parliament and that both should be, in the words of Lord Browne-Wilkinson in Prebble v Television New Zealand, “astute to recognise their respective constitutional roles”. There are two means of, as it were, keeping the tanks off each other’s lawns. One is article IX of the Bill of Rights, which says...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I speak as a member of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee. The chairman of the committee, the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, is unable to be here today because is absent on parliamentary business. No doubt noble Lords have a copy of the 51st report of the Delegated Powers Committee. The argument set out by the committee is brief, concise and telling. I will not...
Lord Lisvane: It is indeed; the noble Lord is correctly quoting from the final bullet point of paragraph 5. I did not want to delay your Lordships further, but that is a helpful, additional piece of information set out in the report.
Lord Lisvane: I should be happy to do so. The Convenor of the Cross Benches, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Hope of Craighead, has helpfully drawn attention to the possible uncertainty that might arise were the negative procedure to be kept in place and were there to be a successful Motion for annulment of the instrument that was made under that provision. I suggest that that is an additional argument...
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I rise purely in a spirit of helpfulness. Perhaps the noble Viscount could keep in mind the difference between a money Bill and a Bill that requires a money resolution. It is quite a profound difference.
Lord Lisvane: My Lords, I do not wish to detain your Lordships unnecessarily, but in a previous life I spent three years as the Clerk of Legislation at the north end of this building. One of the duties of the Clerk of Legislation is to read through the Explanatory Notes and approve them for every government Bill. A key part of that process is ensuring that there is no advocacy or advertising of the merits...
