I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next week’s business. I also thank him for his written ministerial statement on the drafting of Government legislation today. There was great promise in the title given this Government’s woeful record on drafting legislation, but, as usual with this Government, the...

I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next week’s business. I also thank him for his written ministerial statement on the drafting of Government legislation today. There was great promise in the title given this Government’s woeful record on drafting legislation, but, as usual with this Government, the...

I am grateful to the shadow Leader of the House for her questions, and particularly for her welcome for my written ministerial statement. We are pushing forward with the good law project to improve drafting. I am sure that Members will appreciate that

after many years in which there has...

I am grateful to the shadow Leader of the House for her questions, and particularly for her welcome for my written ministerial statement. We are pushing forward with the good law project to improve drafting. I am sure that Members will appreciate that

after many years in which there has...

My Lords, on 8 March 2007 the right honourable Jack Straw, the then Leader of the House of Commons, issued a Written Ministerial Statement. The same Statement on the same day was issued by the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, in this House. It related to the use in the drafting...

My Lords, on 8 March 2007 the right honourable Jack Straw, the then Leader of the House of Commons, issued a Written Ministerial Statement. The same Statement on the same day was issued by the noble Baroness, Lady Amos, in this House. It related to the use in the drafting...

To perorate, if you will. The statutory instrument continues with infelicities to the same extent as those that I have already mentioned.

The clarity of the language of the protocol is certainly not assisted by the use of grammatically inappropriate plural pronouns coupled with references to a single person. In my...

To perorate, if you will. The statutory instrument continues with infelicities to the same extent as those that I have already mentioned.

The clarity of the language of the protocol is certainly not assisted by the use of grammatically inappropriate plural pronouns coupled with references to a single person. In my...

My Lords, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott of Foscote, has certainly raised an extremely interesting question. I believe that Parliament, in the Interpretation Act, set a

rule that is perfectly gender neutral in respect of the use of either male or female pronouns.

It is regrettable that this practice...

My Lords, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott of Foscote, has certainly raised an extremely interesting question. I believe that Parliament, in the Interpretation Act, set a

rule that is perfectly gender neutral in respect of the use of either male or female pronouns.

It is regrettable that this practice...

My Lords, in this interesting debate, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott, has raised and memorably illustrated a problem which has two sources, one in grammar and the other in political history.

First, in grammar, like many other languages, English lacks an epicene third person pronoun that can have anaphoric...

My Lords, in this interesting debate, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott, has raised and memorably illustrated a problem which has two sources, one in grammar and the other in political history.

First, in grammar, like many other languages, English lacks an epicene third person pronoun that can have anaphoric...

My Lords, I want to place on record my thanks to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott of Foscote, for putting down this Question for debate today. Like other noble Lords who have spoken, I am looking forward to the response of the noble Lord, Lord Gardiner of Kimble.

As...

My Lords, I want to place on record my thanks to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott of Foscote, for putting down this Question for debate today. Like other noble Lords who have spoken, I am looking forward to the response of the noble Lord, Lord Gardiner of Kimble.

As...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott of Foscote, on securing this debate, which has been informative and illuminating. It is somewhat daunting to reply to two noble and learned Lords and to the noble Lord, Lord Quirk, who is an expert in language and linguistics...

My Lords, I congratulate the noble and learned Lord, Lord Scott of Foscote, on securing this debate, which has been informative and illuminating. It is somewhat daunting to reply to two noble and learned Lords and to the noble Lord, Lord Quirk, who is an expert in language and linguistics...

My Lords, I offer my thanks to the Minister for his very complete answer and my gratitude to everyone who has taken part in this debate.

My Lords, I offer my thanks to the Minister for his very complete answer and my gratitude to everyone who has taken part in this debate.

Lords question for short debate on what guidance they issue to Parliamentary Counsel with regard to the use of gender-neutral language in the drafting of legislation.

Lords question for short debate on what guidance they issue to Parliamentary Counsel with regard to the use of gender-neutral language in the drafting of legislation.

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to raise this Question and I am delighted that my noble friends Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Lord Cormack are contributing.

Commencement orders may seem a dry and obscure subject—one little understood by the public or indeed by Members. When I mentioned to a...

My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to raise this Question and I am delighted that my noble friends Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and Lord Cormack are contributing.

Commencement orders may seem a dry and obscure subject—one little understood by the public or indeed by Members. When I mentioned to a...

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Norton of Louth in speaking to his admirable choice of subject for this short debate and to congratulate him on the speech with which he introduced it.

He has described our mutual participation in the Commission to Strengthen Parliament....

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Norton of Louth in speaking to his admirable choice of subject for this short debate and to congratulate him on the speech with which he introduced it.

He has described our mutual participation in the Commission to Strengthen Parliament....

My Lords, it is both a pleasure and an honour to follow my two noble friends. My noble friend Lord Norton of Louth has performed many signal services to our parliamentary democracy in this country and his introducing this subject today with such concise and crisp logic was but another...

My Lords, it is both a pleasure and an honour to follow my two noble friends. My noble friend Lord Norton of Louth has performed many signal services to our parliamentary democracy in this country and his introducing this subject today with such concise and crisp logic was but another...

My Lords, there is very rarely an opportunity in a debate such as this for someone to leap into the gap but I am afraid that I am going to sin this afternoon.

I was absolutely horrified by the figures given by my noble friend Lord Norton of 147 Bills since...

My Lords, there is very rarely an opportunity in a debate such as this for someone to leap into the gap but I am afraid that I am going to sin this afternoon.

I was absolutely horrified by the figures given by my noble friend Lord Norton of 147 Bills since...

My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, for this interesting short debate about the statute book, which is indeed littered with legislation that has never been commenced. I was delighted to learn—for the first time, to my shame—of the important commission and the...

My Lords, I, too, am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, for this interesting short debate about the statute book, which is indeed littered with legislation that has never been commenced. I was delighted to learn—for the first time, to my shame—of the important commission and the...

My Lords, first, I congratulate my noble friend on securing this debate. I am particularly conscious of his long-standing interest in this issue and his experience in matters of constitutional law and practice. I am aware of the work he undertook for the commission for the Conservative Party. If I...

My Lords, first, I congratulate my noble friend on securing this debate. I am particularly conscious of his long-standing interest in this issue and his experience in matters of constitutional law and practice. I am aware of the work he undertook for the commission for the Conservative Party. If I...

That is very good.

That is very good.

That might bear out some of my earlier comments, but I believe that the truth is that all Governments seek to have legislation that is in the public interest, so there is a problem with my noble friend’s proposal, albeit that it is well meaning.

Sometimes, where legislation is relatively limited...

That might bear out some of my earlier comments, but I believe that the truth is that all Governments seek to have legislation that is in the public interest, so there is a problem with my noble friend’s proposal, albeit that it is well meaning.

Sometimes, where legislation is relatively limited...

I did.

I did.

The work of the Law Commission is extremely valuable. It undertakes periodic reviews of particular areas of legislation and does the detailed preparatory work on what we know as Statute Law (Repeals) Bills. These are valuable, if somewhat unsung, exercises which help to tidy up the statute book, by repealing...

The work of the Law Commission is extremely valuable. It undertakes periodic reviews of particular areas of legislation and does the detailed preparatory work on what we know as Statute Law (Repeals) Bills. These are valuable, if somewhat unsung, exercises which help to tidy up the statute book, by repealing...