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Climate Change Bill [HL]

I hope the Minister will forgive me, but the concern we are expressing is not about the intention; rather, it is that the way the Bill is constructed might present an opportunity at some time in the future for a nationally agreed, centrally imposed scheme to be forced on local government. There is nothing expressly in the Bill to say that that is not the intention, or that it could not conceivably happen. None of the noble Lords present today, including the government Front Bench, would be particularly happy to see that happening or to think that we encouraged it to happen late at night at the end of a lengthy discussion. The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, and my noble friend Lord Cathcart have been trying to encourage the Government to look at the wording to see if they could put a safeguard in.