---

Parliamentary Standards Bill

My Lords, because we are going back to an issue that we debated at the previous stage, I repeat my concern to see new primary legislation, because of the greater opportunities that that would give for amendment and reflection. Primary legislation need not take long—this Bill is in itself an example of that. If in two years’ time there is general agreement that the Bill has worked well and needs no amendment, or if there is agreement as to what that amendment is—and some of your Lordships have anticipated that that might be the case—it would be dealt with by statutory instrument. In either case, the legislation can go through quickly, but there will be opportunities for a little bit of to and fro, dealing with and tweaking perhaps relatively minor matters, and fully reflecting the wishes of both Houses rather than the attitude of "OK, we’ll let it go", which so often happens with a statutory instrument. There are good reasons for our arrangements for dealing with primary legislation at its different stages, and these arrangements deserve to be applied in two years’ time.