---

Parliamentary Standards Bill

I fully agree. Indeed, I have supported a number of amendments and, even in this bunch, there are a number that I would support and some that, if adopted, would make the need for others disappear. However, I worry that some of the amendments would go so far as to leave a significant hole in the Bill. That might provide a site for which planning permission could be given to do more things in relation to other issues. However, I would prefer to hear from the Justice Secretary or the Deputy Leader of the House before drawing those full conclusions. On clause 8(6), we definitely need some provisions in respect of a protocol, but I believe that subsection (6) is wrong as drafted. I do not go as far as the hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve), in saying that it is a recipe for disaster or that the sky will fall, in the way that he colourfully suggested it would. However, perhaps we have all missed something. Perhaps we should have amended subsection (6), so that it said that IPSA and the Speaker's committee or the Standards and Privileges Committee would seek to agree protocols with "the following". Instead, subsection (6) says that IPSA will prepare a statement or a protocol on how "the following" will work together. That means not just how "the following" will work with IPSA and somebody else, but how "the following" will work together. It therefore seems that something needs to be done about subsection (6).