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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

A few years ago, there was a great deal of debate in the House about what were called Henry VIII clauses. This, in effect, is a Henry VIII clause, because it will give the Secretary of State total power to interpret two words that can have the broadest and most general of meanings in a variety of contexts—““public interest””. The Secretary of State will decide what those two words mean. As the hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Lembit Öpik) said a moment or two ago, we have had examples of the political interpretation of those words. Earlier this afternoon, we had a quite absurd example of a financial consideration, when the Minister stood at the Dispatch Box and said that the Government could decide that £1.7 million—the price of modest London flat—is too much to spend on counteracting fraud.