UK Borders Bill

That last intervention by the Minister is at least a marginal encouragement. My noble friend sometimes puts his friends in difficulty. He said that he suspected that I would not be surprised by his response. I am not sure what I am supposed to say to that. If I say that I am not surprised, that seems to me to be a rather sad reflection on the Government. The arguments that have been put forward are extremely cogent and telling, and if I therefore say that I am surprised, it is because I believe that the Government are open to reason; we are in a sorry plight if they are not. I really believe that the reason stands up. My noble friend referred to views. The noble Lords, Lord Avebury and Lord Hylton, others and I have reached conclusions on what we think should happen, but we are not dealing here with a view or a moral judgment; we are dealing with the reality of a contradiction within the process. My noble friend referred, as I did, to what the Minister said in the other place; that is the kind of argument that makes me cross. I could use stronger words. Even if my noble friend discounts the arguments of the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, for taking the later date—which is a very convincing argument indeed—he says that, because this might occur in some circumstances, even those for whom it is clearly not the case are lumped together with the exceptions, and so you justify the whole thing by one partial argument. That is not good enough when we are dealing with the rights and the position of children; it is just not good enough. Therefore, I say to my noble friend with all the feeling, passion and reason that I can muster that this is an injustice. If we are trying to win young people in this country to a respect for British justice and its consistency, this is the kind of obvious contradiction that could so easily be put right. Obstinacy is only going to play into the hands of those who want to generate cynicism about the processes of the law. For the reasons that we keep repeating, I have no alternative but to withdraw the amendment at this stage. However, I plead with my noble friend not just to say, ““That is it, we got through that””, but, with his colleagues, to think about what has been said and the importance of meeting the amendment before Report. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. On Question, Whether Clause 32 shall stand part of the Bill?