International Development (Reporting and Transparency) Bill

Since Second Reading on 20 January, the Bill has been considered in Committee for less than two hours, during the course of which it was substantially rewritten. Today, the House has its first opportunity to consider the effect of that rewriting and the extent to which it meets concerns expressed on Second Reading and elsewhere. The late and much lamented Eric Forth, whose death has left such a gap in our lives and in this House, raised such concerns in one of his shortest Friday speeches, which lasted only four minutes. He said that"““it is insufficiently focused and in some respects requires strengthening.””—[Official Report, 20 January 2006; Vol. 441, c. 1115.]"