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Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

My Lords, I am disappointed with the answer from the Minister. Of course, I recognise that in law this Parliament is sovereign and that the Scotland Act is a reserved matter and can be changed by this Parliament. Nor am I suggesting that it is necessary for changes to the Scotland Act to receive the approval of the Scottish Parliament. I am suggesting that what is important is how this Parliament is to exercise its sovereignty. The Scotland Act is of such importance in determining the relationship between the two Parliaments and the two nations that it is necessary that any amendment of the Scotland Act should be treated as a matter of constitutional importance, however minor the proposed change. In those circumstances, it would be right to insist that any change to the Scotland Act, however minor in itself, should be made by primary legislation. That is essential in the case, which could happen, where Members of the Scottish Parliament, or the Scottish Executive, were not in favour of those changes. However, I recognise that this is a very late stage in the procedure of the Bill. I imagine, now that we have paragraph (f) in Clause 3(2), that it is pretty unlikely that a problem such as the one that I envisage would happen. In those circumstances, it is not appropriate to press the amendment to a Division. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 14 [Draft order and explanatory document laid before Parliament]: