Serious Crime Bill [HL]

My Lords, I support what has just been said about the report of the Delegated Powers Committee. My concern is that when the noble Lord, Lord Bassam, gave us the information from this report, he must have missed out a vital sentence. At the end of the conclusion, the committee says that, "““the House may wish to invite the Government to reconsider the scope of the new power””." There is something very serious in relation toClause 51, and there are implications with regard to Clause 44. My advice is precisely the same as that of the noble Lord, Lord Henley: the Government should take this back, look at it and come back at Third Reading or before so that we know what they have in mind, on the basis of which we can decide whether we want to take any further action. For now, it would not be right to discuss further the contents of this report or the Government’s response. I see that, although the Government produced a supplementary memorandum, which was considered by the committee, there is no further development other than the recommendations contained in paragraph 5.