Police and Justice Bill

Language is everything when it comes to drafting legislation, otherwise the Government would not be too worried about words such as ““may””, ““shall””, ““would””, ““either”” and ““or””. The use of words is important, and my concern is that the way in which the Government are putting forward these measures against the background of the rest of this part of the Bill reflects a steady ratcheting of power towards the centre. It is against that background that I find myself uncomfortable with this part of the Bill, which is why I supported the amendment. That is why I know that we shall return to matters such as this at other stages of the Bill. It is important that we debate the whole range of issues in which the Government are inexorably moving the barriers so that the Secretary of State gains more power.