Bribery Bill [HL]

My Lords, the use of the expression, ""proper exercise of any function"," may well introduce some form of restriction. I would like the Minister to focus on the word "proper"; I have a simple question for him. My noble friend Lord Goodhart has pointed out that, under the OECD convention, protection of the economy of Great Britain is not an excuse for bribery. Could the performance of a function by a member of the Security Service for the protection of the economy of Great Britain—for the safeguarding of the economic well-being of this country, which is one of the Security Service’s functions—ever be a proper exercise when it would contravene the convention to which we are signatories? In other words, are we not, by using the words "proper exercise", confining ourselves to precisely the wording that my noble friend has put forward?