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Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill [Lords]

I want to ask the Minister why he believes that the pretty draconian enabling powers in the clause are necessary. The clause gives the Secretary of State power, by means of a statutory instrument subject to the affirmative procedure, to amend not just the Bill, once it becomes an Act, but any other enactment, past or future, and any Act of the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales or the Northern Ireland Assembly, if he considers it necessary or desirable to do so because of amendments to the convention on cluster munitions. The kernel of my challenge to the Minister is this: why does he need the powers, given that the Bill is proceeding with cross-party support? One assumes that any later amendment to the cluster munitions convention would also have pretty broad-based support, both in the House and internationally. In those circumstances, why can we not simply rely on full parliamentary procedures? That would allow proper time for scrutiny, for detailed inspection of the Government's legislation, and for the meaning of the proposed change to be elucidated in full. The Minister and I both know that often, statutory instruments are passed with no debate at all. In the House of Commons, at best we are talking about a 90-minute debate upstairs in a Committee Room, with a select group of Members of Parliament, as opposed to the whole House being given the opportunity to comment on new legislation proposed by the Government. Why is there need for such an enabling power? Surely primary legislation is a perfectly adequate vehicle.