Bribery Bill [HL]

I have every sympathy with what my noble and learned friend said, and with half of the argument of the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker. I do not like people handing over bribes to get advantage, but I am worried that all this is being handed over to prosecutorial discretion. The good sense of juries may well restore common sense to the way in which the Act is implemented, and it may not have the effect of catching a lot of possibly unpleasant minnows. I quite agree with my noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew that it is much better just to ask the baggage handler to do it and that handing over the tenner is not attractive. If you thought it appropriate to hand over the tenner afterwards-or the fiver; I am terribly Scottish on these matters-there would be no question of your having induced the person, although it might have been a justifiable thank-you. Again, we are in grey areas. We want clarity for the jury, which is why I am proposing the amendment. I do not believe that existing use of the word "corruption" has stood in the way of any significant prosecutions; rather, it has always been the lack of evidence. I do not wish to detain the Committee, but I can think of other difficult examples, such as lorry drivers who are held up at Calais by the French police. They say, "This is intolerable. We are having to put it into our costings". I write on their behalf to the Minister and get a sensible but, understandably, rather vague reply. I would like bribery to be stamped out just as much as anybody else on the Committee, but I just want a well balanced Bill with language that people understand. That is the difficulty.