Member

We do not need to get into all this in order to do the job that the Government want to do. Ministers have made it clear that they are seeking to target this legislation carefully to avoid trespassing on the separation of powers, and because they are not seeking to undermine the independence of the Sentencing Council any more than is necessary to wrest back control of what are properly matters of policy. I suggest to the Minister that the more precise wording in amendment 1—it is, of course, also Government drafting, because it appears in the explanatory notes—better meets the Government’s own aims than the language in the Bill. If he does not agree, I hope that he will explain clearly in this debate why the Government have taken a more expansive approach.