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

I think the next stage in the procedure is for me to reply on the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Howard of Rising, but not to deal at this point with the general structure of my Amendment No. 3. The issue that causes particular problems is the allegedly very large and wholly uncertain number of international organisations. I do not accept that as being the case. The concept of international organisations is well recognised in international law. I seem to remember from my student days that this goes back to the International Postal Commission set up by an international agreement in the 1860s. This issue is very different from that of treaties. I quite understand why the Government do not know how many treaties, particularly bilateral treaties, are still in force, because they become sometimes more relevant and sometimes less relevant as time passes. But if there is an international organisation in existence, it can hardly escape being identified.