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Climate Change Bill [HL]

I have one supplementary question to ask, following on from my noble friend Lord Cathcart. The Oxford English Dictionary gives three definitions of ““expedient””. The first is, ““‘expeditious’ or ‘speedy’””; the second is ““Conducive to advantage in general, or to a definite purpose; fit, proper or suitable to the purposes of the case””; and the third, in a depreciative sense, is, ““‘Useful’ or ‘politic’ as opposed to ‘just’ or ‘right’””. I quote in particular an example given in the OED of a predecessor or mine as Member of Parliament for Westminster, John Stuart Mill, who said: "““The expedient, in the sense in which it is opposed to the right, generally means that which is expedient for the particular interest of the agent himself””." I realise that in Humpty Dumpty’s view, the words could mean anything one chose them to mean, but which particular interpretation do the Government have in mind?