My Lords, this is a technical amendment. Under the European Parliament (Pay and Pensions) Act 1979, there is a power for the Leader of the House of Commons to make an order aligning MEPs’ resettlement grants with MPs’ resettlement grants. At the moment, the power can be exercised only to...

My Lords, this is a technical amendment. Under the European Parliament (Pay and Pensions) Act 1979, there is a power for the Leader of the House of Commons to make an order aligning MEPs’ resettlement grants with MPs’ resettlement grants. At the moment, the power can be exercised only to...

My Lords, I understand why the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, wishes to have clarification of this clause. As he said, we have returned to a point made in an earlier debate by my noble friend Lord Campbell-Savours. The initiative for any transfer of functions must come from the Speaker. It...

My Lords, I understand why the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, wishes to have clarification of this clause. As he said, we have returned to a point made in an earlier debate by my noble friend Lord Campbell-Savours. The initiative for any transfer of functions must come from the Speaker. It...

My Lords, I, too, support the amendment. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, talked about various groups of people who want to see the word "fair" included in the Bill. Members of Parliament in the other House should have that in the Bill. It is important. There are a whole lot...

My Lords, I, too, support the amendment. The noble Lord, Lord Pannick, talked about various groups of people who want to see the word "fair" included in the Bill. Members of Parliament in the other House should have that in the Bill. It is important. There are a whole lot...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, for allowing us to debate this matter again. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Lester, that MPs are entitled to be dealt with fairly. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, suggested, IPSA and the commission, as...

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, for allowing us to debate this matter again. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Lester, that MPs are entitled to be dealt with fairly. As the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, suggested, IPSA and the commission, as...

My Lords, it is perfectly natural to have fairness expressed in this. We are not interfering with the House of Commons at all. Its procedures have to be dealt with in connection with its executive action. But as for the commissioner’s inquiries and so forth, IPSA is making the rules...

My Lords, it is perfectly natural to have fairness expressed in this. We are not interfering with the House of Commons at all. Its procedures have to be dealt with in connection with its executive action. But as for the commissioner’s inquiries and so forth, IPSA is making the rules...

My Lords, I start by staying that I am seeking consensus, not defenestration. The argument of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, is absolutely correct. If we had been discussing the Bill as it left the other place, perhaps noble Lords would have more of an argument in favour of the...

My Lords, I start by staying that I am seeking consensus, not defenestration. The argument of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, is absolutely correct. If we had been discussing the Bill as it left the other place, perhaps noble Lords would have more of an argument in favour of the...

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...

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...

My Lords, Clause 13 deals with a most important aspect of the expiry of the provisions of the Act, as it will be, and, in particular, a sunset clause. If we had been discussing the Bill as it was, I would gladly have continued to support the Liberal Democrats. However,...

My Lords, Clause 13 deals with a most important aspect of the expiry of the provisions of the Act, as it will be, and, in particular, a sunset clause. If we had been discussing the Bill as it was, I would gladly have continued to support the Liberal Democrats. However,...

My Lords, I certainly agree with the view that some form of review is required after two years, given the speed with which this important Bill has gone through. However, the procedure that the noble Baroness the Leader of the House proposed in her amendment in Committee, which is now...

My Lords, I certainly agree with the view that some form of review is required after two years, given the speed with which this important Bill has gone through. However, the procedure that the noble Baroness the Leader of the House proposed in her amendment in Committee, which is now...

My Lords, I am immensely grateful to the noble Baroness for her support. We look forward to seeing her amendment in a couple of hours’ time. The noble Lord, Lord Barnett, laughs because he suspects that the relevant debate will take more than two hours, but we look forward to...

My Lords, I am immensely grateful to the noble Baroness for her support. We look forward to seeing her amendment in a couple of hours’ time. The noble Lord, Lord Barnett, laughs because he suspects that the relevant debate will take more than two hours, but we look forward to...

My Lords, I am in the happy position of having already secured the support of the Liberal Democrat Benches and of my own Front Bench for this amendment. I hope that it will also have the Government’s support. If a Member is found not to be at fault, and presumably...

My Lords, I am in the happy position of having already secured the support of the Liberal Democrat Benches and of my own Front Bench for this amendment. I hope that it will also have the Government’s support. If a Member is found not to be at fault, and presumably...

My Lords, I apologise to my noble friend. We shall talk to Amendment 12 when we get to it.

My Lords, I apologise to my noble friend. We shall talk to Amendment 12 when we get to it.

My Lords, I hope that we can take this amendment with Amendments 10 and 11. Noble Lords will remember that the Government tabled a fairly substantial amendment to the Bill in Committee, inserting subsections (4), (5), (6) and (7) in Clause 7. Subsection (5)(b) refers to, ""such other conditions as...

My Lords, I hope that we can take this amendment with Amendments 10 and 11. Noble Lords will remember that the Government tabled a fairly substantial amendment to the Bill in Committee, inserting subsections (4), (5), (6) and (7) in Clause 7. Subsection (5)(b) refers to, ""such other conditions as...

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, mentioned, I said in Committee that it is highly desirable that the Bill should contain provisions about what is to happen if no fault is found—which it does not at the moment. I notice that that is covered in Amendment 12 rather...

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin, mentioned, I said in Committee that it is highly desirable that the Bill should contain provisions about what is to happen if no fault is found—which it does not at the moment. I notice that that is covered in Amendment 12 rather...

My Lords, I added my name to this amendment and I would like to add one or two comments. As the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, indicated, judicial review would be extremely rare in this context. Therefore, inserting the word "fair" as a requirement of procedures would not make it more...

My Lords, I added my name to this amendment and I would like to add one or two comments. As the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, indicated, judicial review would be extremely rare in this context. Therefore, inserting the word "fair" as a requirement of procedures would not make it more...

My Lords, Amendment 13 would impose on the IPSA a duty to ensure that the procedures which it lays down for the conduct of investigations by the commissioner must be fair. Subsections (11) and (12) already require that the procedures must satisfy specific requirements of fairness, but all other matters...

My Lords, Amendment 13 would impose on the IPSA a duty to ensure that the procedures which it lays down for the conduct of investigations by the commissioner must be fair. Subsections (11) and (12) already require that the procedures must satisfy specific requirements of fairness, but all other matters...

Amendment 13 13: Clause 7, page 5, line 36, after "must" insert "be fair and"

Amendment 13 13: Clause 7, page 5, line 36, after "must" insert "be fair and"

My Lords, I stand by what I said in response to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin. The Government believe that this is a matter for the IPSA to decide. The IPSA may decide that it wishes to have a consistent approach, or it may not wish to do that. However,...

My Lords, I stand by what I said in response to the noble Lord, Lord Jenkin. The Government believe that this is a matter for the IPSA to decide. The IPSA may decide that it wishes to have a consistent approach, or it may not wish to do that. However,...

That is a somewhat disappointing reply. By definition we are dealing with the case of a Member against whom no fault has been found. It seems to me that the initial stages of an investigation by the commissioner are bound to be conducted away from the public eye. The press...

That is a somewhat disappointing reply. By definition we are dealing with the case of a Member against whom no fault has been found. It seems to me that the initial stages of an investigation by the commissioner are bound to be conducted away from the public eye. The press...

As the noble Lord explained, his amendment would leave it up to the MP to decide whether a "no fault" finding should be publicised. We had some debate in Committee on 14 July about what should happen to publication of the commissioner’s reports, particularly where there had been a "no...

As the noble Lord explained, his amendment would leave it up to the MP to decide whether a "no fault" finding should be publicised. We had some debate in Committee on 14 July about what should happen to publication of the commissioner’s reports, particularly where there had been a "no...