Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. I do not need to strain your patience, because the points I want to make are brief, and I can express them in headline form. First, the powers in amendment (h)—one of the amendments that we debated previously—are permissive, not mandatory. Secondly, a timetable has not been prescribed. The phrase, ““any category””, means that the order that designates the categories may provide for a lesser set of circumstances than that provided for by the Lords amendment. Proposed subsection (2) enables the Government, in their order, to exempt circumstances and persons so that the categories are not covered in the same way as they are covered by the Lords amendments. Finally, the procedure to be followed is the affirmative resolution, which, while it is better than the negative resolution, does not allow for proper discussion or for amendment. Those are the points that I wanted to make in support of my argument. I do not think that Government amendment (h) is different in kind from amendment 10A, which we have previously debated. In any event, it is not the proper basis for compromise. If those things are true, I query why we are extending the time by seven days, because we do not have the basis for a proper settlement.