Contributions
1,086 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (Second sitting)Q Just so we are clear, the reason why that bank holiday entitlement exists in UK law is because EU legislation required it, and we have written proposals for bank holidays into…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (Second sitting)Q I thought the Minister helpfully set out a whole range of employment protections that are rooted in retained EU law when it comes to women’s rights. Removing the foundation of…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (Second sitting)Q Sir Jonathan, a similar question to you: what impact does that have on the ability of Departments to operate and, indeed, on Parliament’s ability to scrutinise, if it is not…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (Second sitting)Q Another question we could ask is whether it is reasonable for Parliament to ensure that Ministers know the consequences of their legislation. What the National Archives work…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (Second sitting)It is hard to hear you. I wonder whether it is because you are between two microphones. I am sorry. Barney Reynolds: One of the EU’s methods of interpretation is its version of…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you, Sir Gary. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon as much as it was this morning. This is a very interesting discussion about how we make…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q I will just say that we are all free to take advice from competing lawyers, but I do not think we are free in this place to treat our witnesses with contempt, regardless of…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Apologies, but you did propose—08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q You make a case for being able to change your mind yourself and having a process for changing your view on this legislation. Would it not be beneficial for this place to have…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q But we do not have powers to press them; we only have a negative resolution procedure. You made such a compelling case and argued in your previous evidence for several areas of…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q You also said that there were limited respects—and gave two examples from your own practice—where you thought it was a good idea to retain EU law over pre-Brexit legislation. Do…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q You felt it was naive to know what we were revising. Martin Howe: No. I was naive to think that the process of revision would be started. I share Tom’s view that it would have…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q You made quite a strong argument, did you not, that there was a case for being able to look? You were advocating the superfluity of some of this legislation, but now the Bill…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q Are you disappointed that there is no scrutiny mechanism in the legislation, as you floated? Martin Howe: What I was then proposing was not so much a scrutiny mechanism as a…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q That is where the lawyers make their millions. In your interpretation of burdens, the TCA talks about us not using changes in our regulatory processes to undercut each other. So…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q I just want to follow up on that. Clause 15(5) specifies that no replacement legislation can increase the burden on businesses. That looks very much like it is locking in lower…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)In your opinion, then, the ability of parliamentarians, as opposed to Ministers, to influence what laws come next, if they are enacted at all, is limited. Can you suggest, or are…08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q We know that the last time the Commons overturned a negative statutory instrument was in 1979, and that the Lords has not done so since 2000. Professor Young: Exactly.08 Nov 2022HANSARDRetained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting)Q We have talked a little bit about the content, but could we talk a little about the process? You have just highlighted that there are actually another 1,400 pieces of…08 Nov 2022HANSARDAsylum Seekers Accommodation and SafeguardingThe second half of this urgent question was explicitly about the safeguarding of accompanied minors in the hotels. That matters because there are thousands of children—verified…07 Nov 2022