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Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill [Lords]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that relevant observation, although I am not sure that we can await the consideration of the Attorney-General, given the exigencies of the situation today. However, I would like the Minister to tell us just how wide the interpretative sweep available to the Secretary of State is. What he may consider necessary or desirable might either fall well short of what is actually required to match changes to the convention or exceed them in a number of ways. The Secretary of State may use the contrivance of changes in pursuance of changes to the convention to water down other aspects of the Bill. The big problem is that although the House might feel it all very well to give the Secretary of State the power to so change legislation of this House, should he also have the power of fiat to change the legislation of other Assemblies and Parliaments in relation to any enactment? For instance, there is no reference to legislative consent motions or anything else. It might be that future changes to the convention put in place particular obligations and restrictions on what Governments do with, or for, companies that might, or might not, have been involved in contraventions of the ban on cluster munitions.