Governance of Britain

My Lords, with the leave of the House, I shall repeat a Statement made by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Justice in another place. The Statement is as follows: ““Mr Speaker, with permission, I should like to make a Statement about our programme of constitutional renewal. With this Statement, three consultation documents are being published. The first, jointly by my right honourable friends the Foreign and Defence Secretaries and me, is on parliamentary approval for war powers and treaties; the second, by me, is on judicial appointments; and the third, by my right honourable friend the Home Secretary, is on protests in Parliament Square. Copies of the documents are available in the Vote Office and on my department’s website. ““In his Statement to the House on 3 July to launch the Green Paper, The Governance of Britain, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister set out his vision of a renewed relationship between government and citizen. He identified 12 areas in which, "‘the Prime Minister and executive should surrender or limit their powers, the exclusive exercise of which by the Government should have no place in a modern democracy’." ““Two of the most important prerogative powers exercised by government are the power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas and the power to commit the nation to international legal obligations through the ratification of treaties. ““I turn first to war powers. On 15 May, the Government supported a Motion in this House which declared that it was ‘inconceivable’ that the precedents set in 2002 and 2003, when the Government sought the approval of the House for military action in Iraq, would not be followed in the future. The same Motion called on the Government, "‘to come forward with detailed proposals’," on how this convention should be entrenched. Today’s consultation paper therefore explores a range of options, each aimed at formalising Parliament’s role. It suggests that this might be through a convention, through legislation, or by a combination of both. ““The consultation paper discusses the critical issues that any system would have to accommodate. It is essential that any new arrangement should not damage morale, hinder us in meeting our international commitments, or inhibit operational flexibility. Nor should it place members of our Armed Forces under any legal liability as a result of any new arrangement. The Government welcome views on how these objectives can best be achieved and on related questions. What is the role of the House of Lords? How should we define ‘armed conflict’ and ‘armed forces’? What information ought to be supplied to Parliament and at what stage? ““I turn now to the ratification of treaties. This is already subject to a parliamentary convention, introduced by the first Labour Government in 1924, known as the Ponsonby Rule. According to this and with certain exceptions, the Government must lay a treaty as a Command Paper before Parliament for a minimum of 21 sitting days prior to ratification. It is then for Parliament to determine which treaties it wishes to debate. The Government believe that there may be value in putting this convention on a statutory footing, to establish Parliament’s right to decide and to show that the actions of the Government are subject to the will of the people’s representatives. ““The paper seeks views on how this can best be done, including on the detailed and important questions of how exceptions to the existing convention, such as bilateral double taxation agreements, should be dealt with; how a debate and vote on a treaty should be triggered; and how the 21-day period could be extended in special circumstances. ““As Lord Chancellor, I am responsible for upholding and defending the independence of the judiciary, which is essential to the functioning of any free and democratic society. Our system of appointing judges must be, as I believe it is, wholly devoid of party politics. It must be transparent, accountable and capable of inspiring public confidence. Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, with the establishment of the Lord Chief Justice as the head of the judiciary, we have already made many significant reforms to the way in which judges are appointed in England and Wales. The most fundamental was the creation of an independent Judicial Appointments Commission. The consultation paper published today outlines possible options for additional reform, on which the Government would welcome views. ““The final consultation document published today concerns protest in Parliament Square. The framework in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 in respect of protests raised concerns from campaigners, other citizens and, separately, from Members of this House. We need to listen to those concerns and review the provisions to see whether there is a better way to uphold the right to protest and manage individual protest appropriately. ““Holding the Government to account for the way they spend public money is one of the most important functions of this House. I and my colleagues pay tribute to the work of the National Audit Office in supporting Parliament in this task. So the House will be pleased to know that, following a joint request from the Father of the House and the opposition chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, space will be made available in the constitutional reform Bill for any agreed changes to the governance of the National Audit Office emerging from the review that it has announced. ““It is right to consider the circumstances in which we open up more information for debate before this House. Even in the most sensitive sphere, national security, where everyone agrees that some safeguards have to be in place to respect confidentiality, we should always consider where we can do more. Starting next month, the Government will publish annually, for parliamentary debate and public scrutiny, our national security strategy, setting out for the British people the threats that we face and the objectives that we pursue. Additionally, new rules will govern a more open approach to the working of the Intelligence and Security Committee. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has agreed with the chair of that committee that Parliament should have a clear role in the appointment of its members. ““In keeping with this Government’s commitment to ensure that the public can access the information that they need, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister will be making a speech later today announcing that we will not tighten the charging arrangements for freedom of information requests. A consultation on whether to extend the Freedom of Information Act to a range of organisations that perform public functions and a review of the 30-year rule will be established. ““These days huge amounts of personal data are held by the public and private sectors. My right honourable friend the Prime Minister and I have asked the Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, and Dr Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, to review the way we share and protect personal information in the public and private sectors. ““The freedom of the media to investigate and report is a key issue in the use of information. We consulted last year on restricting media access to the coroners’ courts and I can now confirm that we will not be limiting access. Proposals to ban media payments to criminals have been under consideration for some time. None of us wants to see criminals profiting from publishing books about their crimes and, while ensuring that the freedom of the press to investigate and report is maintained, we will make sure that criminals cannot benefit in that way. ““As provisions in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill make clear, we are also concerned about the misuse of personal data. However, the new rules raise concern that they could impede legitimate investigative journalism, so the Information Commissioner, in consultation with the Press Complaints Commission, will produce clear guidance to ensure that that is not impeded. ““There is often a lack of clarity in the balance between an individual’s freedom and the role of the state. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has been examining this issue in relation to existing police powers of entry, to consider whether there should be a single readily understandable code. The Home Secretary will widen the review in scope to include all powers of entry held by public authorities. The Home Secretary will also lead a consultative review considering whether improved guidance is needed for police officers in the exercise of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, ensuring that trust is preserved in the use of those powers. ““These consultation documents and these other measures are all in part concerned with the right to freedom of expression and its facilitation. It is a right specifically protected by the Human Rights Act, but it has existed in the UK for a very long time. Because of its fundamental importance in our democracy, I shall be considering how, as all future legislation is developed, it can be carefully audited for any explicit or unforeseen restriction that it might unnecessarily place on freedom of expression. ““These are important questions that go to the heart of the issue of where power should lie in our country and how it should be exercised. We now look forward to hearing the views of parliamentarians and citizens on how this can best be achieved in these vitally important areas””.