Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Howe, for saying that. I do not feel any differently about underlining something from how I do about declaring something that is already in existence, is supported by the judiciary and is not in question. Of course, I shall read the interventions of noble Lords who have spoken previously on these matters, but I remain to be convinced...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, my thought was that that sort of situation would be covered by the fact that the Prime Minister would be submitting a request for a Dissolution to Her Majesty. In all normal circumstances, of course, Her Majesty could act upon such a request. However, there could be circumstances in which Her Majesty might wish to say, "Before accepting this request, I wish to consider whether a...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I hope that the House will forgive me. I have to chair a committee upstairs at 4 pm so I rise perhaps a little prematurely to commend to your Lordships my Amendment 22ZB. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, has already described what the amendment is intended to do; I do not need to repeat that, as he did so better than I could do myself. It loses the Speaker and the 14 days....
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I have put my name to this proposed new clause because it provides greater clarity and certainty than Clause 2 in its present form. It defines clearly and unambiguously what constitutes a vote of confidence in the other place for the purposes of this legislation. It is not a total definition of all votes of confidence but of what would constitute a vote of confidence for the...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I echo those who have expressed their pleasure at the arrival of the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, in this House and welcome him here among us. I did not have the pleasure of working with him in the other place, but I have enjoyed his friendship for a number of years and I believe that he will add greatly to the light as well as the enlightenment of our proceedings. None of your...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, as one who also attached his name to the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, I support him in inviting the House of Commons to think again. The amendment does not fundamentally undermine the principle of equality of constituencies. It does not undermine the 5 per cent margin in any serious way. As the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, just said, it provides a safety margin should...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, once upon a time there was a man called Procrustes. He made a very beautiful bed, and he liked people to come and lie on it. Being a man of very high and strict principle, he insisted that the bed and the people should fit. Unfortunately, he made the bed unalterable, so he had to make the people fit the bed. He either stretched them out a little if they were too small or chopped a...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, we are told in the gracious Speech that proposals are to be brought forward, "for a reformed second House that is wholly or mainly elected on the basis of proportional representation". I am glad that a possibility, at least, remains of retaining an element of appointed independent Cross-Bench Peers. I follow very much what the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, has just said. Discussion of...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, perhaps it would be convenient if I also spoke to the five amendments. I do not want to comment on Amendment 1. I should have been prepared to go along with the proposals dealt with in Amendment 2 and the investigations into the code of conduct by the commission if the consent of the Minister had been required for the exercise of such an investigation. Without that, I do not think...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I follow the noble Lord, Lord Goodlad, who reminded us of the observations of the Select Committee on the Constitution on this Bill. I agree with the comments in that report. I should therefore be supporting the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Trefgarne, but I, my noble friends and successors in office in the Civil Service want the Civil Service provisions to take statutory force....
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, this Bill is an example of a trend which has become rather prevalent in the handling of legislative proposals. The Government put together a number of more or less disparate and unrelated subjects into a single, large and unwieldy Bill-a sort of portmanteau, as some people have described it. They give it a veneer of respectability with a cover-all title, burden it with an over-long...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, will it be in order for the noble Baroness who asked the Question and other Members of this House who still adhere to paper tax returns to deliver their returns to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs office in Whitehall?
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, the evil that the Bill is intended to address needs to be remedied, and one can understand the Government's anxiety to be seen to be seeking to remedy it with dispatch and urgency. I add my own tribute to the way in which the noble Baroness the Leader of the House presented the Bill this afternoon, but I wish to differ from her in one respect. She was, I think, trying to argue that...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, on choosing this subject for debate this afternoon. He is, perhaps, luckier than he expected. It is indeed timely. With two right reverend Prelates taking part in today's debate, perhaps I may be forgiven for taking a text for my contribution. My text will be the contribution to yesterday afternoon's discussion by the noble Baroness, Lady...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: I remember it well, my Lords, and I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Lester, for reminding me of it, but I believe we can do better than that in the current situation. I am not one who thinks that we should give ourselves a written constitution. In a sense, of course, we already have one: our constitutional arrangements are described in great detail and with great authority in many learned...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: The Minister has not dealt with one point made by the noble Viscount, Lord Eccles, that a bridge bank is by definition in the Bill wholly owned by the Bank of England; the Bank of England is wholly owned by the Treasury; therefore, a transfer to a bridge bank under this clause is, in effect, a transfer into public ownership. Should the instruments that affect that not be subject to some kind...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, this is an ingenious amendment in response to the situation created by the decision of the Irish people to vote against Irish ratification of the treaty of Lisbon. I do not attempt to predict what the eventual outcome will be. The issue will be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the European Council and I do not propose to try to advise it on what conclusions it should reach....
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I should like briefly to say why I support the Motion proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Waddington. It was argued at an earlier stage that the amendment is unnecessary because the Bill defines the offence with sufficient clarity and there is therefore no doubt to be avoided. That is the reason given for the disagreement in another place. Looking at it from a purely legal point of...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: My Lords, I have added my name to the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Waddington. I simply wish to say that he has said all that I could want to say. It seems to me that discussion or criticism of a particular sexual orientation can be expressed without giving rise to incitement to hatred. If it can be, it should be allowed to happen in the interests of free speech. I strongly...
Lord Armstrong of Ilminster: I had not intended to take part in this debate, but I wish to speak briefly in support of the noble Lord, Lord Elton, on the symbolic significance of the amendment. The fact that one has not had a flood for a very long time does not mean that one should destroy the floodgates. My fear is that the removal of this provision will be seen as encouraging people to make outrageous statements that...
