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House of Lords (Members’ Taxation Status) Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Minister for that response. If the Bill went through and became an Act, would it be legal under EU law? I do not know the answer to that question under the various human rights Acts that we have passed. My noble friend Lord Ferrers and I took the National Lottery Bill through this House and there was a great debate after it was passed about whether Ministers should buy a lottery ticket. It was decided that we should all buy a lottery ticket to encourage other people to buy them. If we won £10 we would keep it, and if we won the jackpot we were offered the opportunity to give the money to charity. I remember saying to the Permanent Secretary at the time that if I happened to win the jackpot I would have to consider my place in Her Majesty’s Government very carefully. That was the only assurance I could give. However, I wonder whether that would be enforceable under the various human rights laws if one moved abroad. The noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, gave a partial reply to my amendment which showed that there is a flaw in the Bill. He said quite clearly that he had no objection to any noble Lord who sat in this House living part of the time or some of the time—whatever the words were—in, for example, France, and attending the House provided he paid full English tax. I agree with the noble Lord that that is a question of residency but not of domicile. If, for example, the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, moved and spent half the year in France, or whatever period it was, attended the House and still paid full English tax, he might also have acquired domicile status in France as well, which under this Bill that would mean that he would not be able to sit in the House because he might be domiciled in two places. That is a flaw in the Bill.