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Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 2005

My Lords, I think that I am the only member of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee present in the Chamber. When the noble Lord started on his "signed, sealed and delivered", I thought it sounded familiar, and once he moved on to trading stamps, it became totally so. Both matters were brought before the committee in a deregulation capacity. It is extremely encouraging to a member of the committee to find that we get double productivity in that something that we have considered already is passed on automatically to Northern Ireland and is then carried through. While I am on my feet, I say to the Minister as a warning shot that while he very kindly answered my question on the first order by responding with the word, "Yes", I remind him of an occasion when a memorandum was put before Arthur Balfour by his civil servants. It stated: "Prime Minister, there are two things we could do. A and B". Arthur Balfour simply wrote the words, "Yes. AJB", and put the note in his Red Box. The civil servant said, "Prime Minister, we were actually seeking a choice". Balfour replied, "You were not seeking a choice. You were telling me that there are things we can do, and I agree with you". I asked the Minister, "is it A or B?", and he replied by simply using the phrase of Arthur Balfour: "Yes". On another occasion I shall come back and ask him to explain it more clearly.