Member

I also support Amendment 4, set out so clearly by the noble Earl, Lord Howe. This is tied up with the transition problem, the fairness question and the legitimate expectation points that have been raised. It would be helpful to hear from the Minister how many individuals she thinks might be caught up in the scenario that the noble Earl described. I am sure she would accept that there is a degree of frustration that the Government announced back in July last year that this was the approach they would take. It is really no fault of applicants in the system that it has taken seven months to get to a position where we now have to do emergency legislation, with all the complexity and potentially even chaos that that causes.