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Armed Forces Bill

My Lords, these necessary amendments extend the scope of Clause 36 and the offence of inaccurate certification to beyond ships and aircraft. We argued for that change in Committee and I am grateful to the Minister for his response. Although Amendment No. 28 is perhaps vague at first glance, I fully accept his argument in favour of flexibility and I am pleased that he has left it to the Defence Council to prescribe descriptions of equipment to which the offence will apply. That will allow the Armed Forces themselves to influence which equipment is covered by the offence. Therefore, we welcome and support these amendments.