Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

I apologise for my lack of clarity. Working with the Scottish Executive, it was determined that the clause needed to be tabled. The Court of Appeal in the case of Morris—we got the final judgment this week—made a declaration of incompatibility in respect of section 185(4) of the Housing Act 1996, holding that that provision was within the ambit of article 8 of the European convention on human rights and breached article 14, as it discriminated on grounds of nationality, immigration control, settled residence and social welfare. New clause 3(1)(d) is in the same terms as section 185(4) and, although it does not apply to persons subject to immigration control, but only to other persons from abroad—essentially European Economic Area nationals—which was the point of the new clause, it has the same potential for discriminatory effect. A petition has been filed in the House of Lords seeking leave to appeal. That is the present position. As the new clause was incompatible with section 185(4), it was withdrawn. I shall let the hon. Gentleman know in more detail about its gestation, but it originated from discussion between the Home Office and the Scottish Executive. If the hon. Gentleman understands that, he is a better man than me, but that is why the new clause was withdrawn in the end.