Member

It is beginning to feel as if this were a deliberate tactic. “Keep things vague, do not make anything too real or tangible, and do not confront what this will mean day-to-day. Let’s just keep it light. Let’s keep it airy-fairy. Let’s keep it in the cloud of principle and, somehow or another, through benign intervention, good will accrue.” This is too serious an issue in which to place that faith, because it could be misplaced. That relies on us as Members of Parliament not to care—to switch off when we hear the words “secondary legislation”, something that we know can often be dealt with in five or 10 minutes in a Committee room, with 14 or 20 people selected by the Whips and no debate on the Floor of the House. This is not a niche issue for the Hansard Society or the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, and it would be a shame and a stain on this House and this Parliament if we were to nod through a Bill that gives us the idea that Henry VIII is the way to go.