Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

I apologise to the hon. Gentleman. We have not had many jokes during the debate. The hon. Gentleman properly noted that Standing Orders of the House will need to be reviewed in the context of the Bill. I enjoyed hearing his views on the sugar beet order, or rather, the problems in getting rid of it. The hon. Members for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) and for Cambridge made many valuable points in the debate, not least identifying the posing threat of the laws forcing the Government to review the scope of the Bill in the first place, and also in reducing the scope of the Executive to interpret the provisions of the Bill. Their explanation of why amendment (a) should introduce the word ““reasonably”” to create objectivity rather than ministerial subjectivity was persuasive. I agreed with many of the sentiments about the growth of the power of the Executive and the serious consequences that could follow from that, not least in relation to the Bill, expressed by the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, Central, but he should have a quick read of the debate on Second Reading, including my remarks. My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe noticed the irony in what he called the minor miracle that turned what should have been a positive desire to reduce regulation into the messy Bill that is before us. He stated his position that new clause 19 is still too lax in its wording. I am sure that his arguments on the new clause will be carefully reviewed by colleagues, not least in another place. Many of his comments, not only in relation to veto rights, will be addressed later in our proceedings. We benefited from his experience in his summary of how Government have been nibbling away, as he called it, at parliamentary freedoms over the past 50 years. His comments were strongly supported by the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Mr. Shepherd), who also spoke up for amendment (a) and new clause 17, and gave a general call—