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Planning Bill

My Lords, I am extremely glad that the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, has found a way to bring this important issue back to the House at Third Reading. We owe him a debt of gratitude for identifying the issue and pursuing it so resolutely. The arguments that he and the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, presented to the House in our debate on Amendment No. 130 on Report and the arguments that they have presented today are irrefutable. I have never seen my noble friend the Minister so miserable in dutifully defending the indefensible. In our vote on the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, on Report, this House deprived itself of the power and the responsibility—long-established without peradventure and amply demonstrated in the many precedents cited by the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin—to approve or disapprove regulations governing charges or levies as opposed to taxes raised for the Exchequer on the principle that the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, just explained. That was a gratuitous act of self-immolation. If significant constitutional change is to be introduced, it should not be introduced as an incidental aspect of legislation. Although I make no personal criticism of my noble friend the Minister, I believe that in introducing this change the Government should have been candid with the House. Equally, the House should have been vigilant. The House should not abandon its rights and its responsibilities without the most careful consideration, in a fit of absence of mind. That is what happened last week when we had a vote on a poor turnout and, by 96 votes to 90, as I recollect, the noble Lord’s amendment was lost. This amendment gives us the chance to retrieve at least a good part of what we threw away last week. I hope that the House will acquit itself better today than it did last week.