Crispin Blunt

Conservative Party | Reigate

Business questions

Crispin raised a qestion with the Leader of the House Robin Cook, about theamount of time set aside for scrutiny of the Justice ( Northern Ireland )Bill, which will pass through the House of Commons with many clauses unscrutinised by the Standing Committee set up do do this job, due to timeconstraints.

Mr. Crispin Blunt (Reigate): I thank the Leader of the House for the charming and gracious way in which he corrected the record from two weeks ago. However, in line with "Erskine May", is it good enough to have to wait two weeks for the correction? It became clear at 4 o'clock on the afternoon on which he made his statement that he had been misled and had therefore inadvertently misled the House. I raised that on the Floor of the House before 6 o'clock that evening and again last Monday. Does two weeks meet the requirement of correcting as soon as possible inadvertent misleadings of the House?

I invite the Leader of the House to correct the reply that he gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Mr. Forth). The Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill has 68 amendments tabled for Monday, all of which are in my name and in those of my hon. Friends. I am grateful to the Leader of the House for confirming that there will be Government amendments. I understand that they may be substantial amendments arising directly from our debates in Committee. The fact that we did not debate 32 clauses and seven schedules, yet finished with time to spare, must be taken up by the Modernisation Committee. We must be able to do our job as legislators properly.

Mr. Cook: On the time taken before correcting the record, I gently remind the hon. Gentleman that from 7 o'clock that day until Monday the House did not sit. This is the first business statement since then, and I have corrected the record at the appropriate time to the appropriate audience.

As regards the Justice (Northern Ireland) Bill, I am sorry if I was wrong about the composition of the 68 amendments to which the right hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst referred. I understand that technical Government amendments will be moved to fulfil the commitments that we made in Committee.

I am not entirely convinced that the hon. Gentleman's revelation that all the amendments are in his name makes a compelling case for another day's debate. However, we shall reflect on that in the light of what happens during the debate. If we take a businesslike and professional approach, I am sure that we can do it in the one day.