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Parliamentary Standards Bill

Although the Attorney-General was pretty categoric, she was not absolutely categoric. She said that""it is very unlikely that anything in the Bill would give rise to subject matter that could be interpreted by the European Court of Justice."—[Official Report, House of Lords, 20 July 2009; Vol. 712, c. 1423.]" The Attorney-General has not said "Never". If there was ever a case for belt and braces, it would seem to be this. If she had said that it could never possibly happen, the Government could legitimately oppose the amendment, but the fact that she said merely that it was "very unlikely" suggests that she holds out the possibility that it could happen.