Bribery Bill [HL]

At this juncture in the Parliament, the noble Lord should be careful about having too much fun at our expense in terms of the reason why this was not in the draft Bill. I advise him to be slightly cautious of certain eventualities. He will know from his time in government—it is a long time ago but he may just remember it—that matters of this importance are not discussed at all times. However, when they do come up for discussion, and when there is an intention to legislate, all relevant government departments need to be consulted and all the issues need to be considered. Let the noble Lord enjoy himself, of course, but I warn him to be slightly cautious about blaming us too much for the fact that we put before the Joint Committee a Bill that was not complete in every way. The Joint Committee is powerful enough, but your Lordships’ Committee is a good deal more powerful.