Bribery Bill [HL]

My Lords, during the 10 years that I was a law officer—and I watched my noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew and Lord Havers before that—when acting as Attorney-General one was not acting as a member of the Government; one was acting as an independent law officer of the Crown. One would rather have been swallowed up by the earth than have allowed anything in the nature of an ordinary ministerial duty to affect one’s judgment. That was the tradition with which I came into the department.