Westminster Diary - 20th April 2006

Thursday, 20th April 2006

To go by its title, the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill does not sound scary. It doesn’t even sound interesting. However, when you look at the content of the Bill, it is potentially very interesting and really quite scary. What it does is to increase the amount of power held by Ministers and decreases the amount of Parliamentary scrutiny new laws will get. The Bill gives Ministers wide-ranging authority to amend, repeal or introduce new laws, not following Parliamentary debate and a democratic vote of the House of Commons, but by the stroke of a Ministerial pen. Of course the government say that this Bill is intended to be used by Ministers only to cut back regulation, but the Bill as currently drafted does not limit the so-called ‘Orders in Council’ which will be available to Ministers to that area of government activity.

I am sure I am not the only one cynical enough to doubt that this or any government, having won powers to avoid awkward Parliamentary scrutiny, would choose not to use them. Even those who believe that this government is reasonable and well-meaning in all things should recognise that this law may outlive this government.

I am one of those who believed before I entered Parliament that opportunities for Parliament to hold the government to account had been eroded too far already. Since I became a Member of the House of Commons it has become increasingly apparent to me that although the Commons generally contains good people, of all parties, who try to make good law, our opportunities to do so are limited. The time allowed by the government for Parliament to scrutinise new legislation is often inadequate particularly when it originates from Europe. Debates are short and Ministers talk for much of them. I think that we need more Parliamentary scrutiny of what Ministers propose to do which will affect us all, not less.

This is why, without substantial alteration, I believe that the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill is another step in an anti-democratic and dangerous direction.

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Updated on Thursday, 20th April 2006