Parliament: Waging War (Constitution Committee Report)

My Lords, the hour is late and it would not be profitable to reopen the whole debate, although after the Lord Chancellor’s speech it is tempting to do so. I should like to confine myself to saying that in his advocacy of business as usual and everything is tickety-boo, I thought that the noble and learned Lord perhaps did not do justice to the contributions from around the House. If he was not impressed by the weight of the arguments set out in the report, which he clearly was not, I should have thought he would have been impressed by the near unanimity of an extremely distinguished selectionof noble Lords with a great variety of experience. Although it is a joy for a non-lawyer to watch a skilled courtroom advocate seizing on little strands of straw here and there and trying to make a substantial brick out of them, I thought he was not altogether fair in the way he characterised some of the contributions to the debate. But that is what he is good at. Incidentally, I thought that my noble friend Lord Smith was unkind to the Lord Chancellor. He adds greatly to the gaiety of life and I must say that if I were to be critical, it would really be more his Panglossian characteristics that I would seize on: everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. I had the great pleasure of starting my day with the Lord Chancellor in the Constitution Committee talking about the Ministry of Justice and ending it here at eight o’clock talking about this important issue. His sheer brio is overwhelming and I hope that whatever the future weeks have in store for him, we shall continue to be entertained by the way he can defend the indefensible. It is extremely impressive. I conclude by thanking all noble Lords who have taken part in the debate. Some would like us to go further, some think our proposal is too modest, and the Lord Chancellor clearly thinks that it has no attraction at all. I suspect that the issue is not going to go away and a government permanent review will have to get active. On Question, Motion agreed to.