Member

I am entirely reassured by what the Minister says in respect of what she and this Government are intending to do, but I am not reassured that it necessarily applies to future Governments and future Ministers. Therein lies the problem. We are legislating in this House not for a Bill that will last for the duration of this Government but for a Bill that is going to last for many years. I am therefore not reassured about what happens later. The noble Lord, Lord Deben, put it more starkly with his examples, but this is the critical point: there is a risk of these very wide and onerous powers being misused by future Governments. I think it is essential that we put on the face of the Bill, so that there is no possibility of a misunderstanding, what these safeguards are.