Parliamentary Standards Bill

I am grateful for the welcome from noble Lords on all Benches for the changes that we have made and the amendments that the Government have introduced in this grouping. I know that many people feel very frustrated by the rapid changes being made to this Bill. Perhaps they think that this brings the Government into ridicule, but I do not. It is precisely what this Chamber is for—to improve legislation when it is found to be lacking. Clearly, this is a very hasty Bill; everybody knows that and everybody knows why. However, I think this Chamber is doing exactly as it should be doing, and the Government are responding accordingly. The noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, asked the important question of when the new offence will be brought in. It certainly will not be brought in on Royal Assent; it will be commenced only when the new IPSA allowances scheme is laid. I do not know exactly when that will be, but I shall keep noble Lords informed. I have explained in our earlier debate why the Government think that it is important to have available the offence created by Clause 8(1), and why we do not think that relying on the Fraud Act is sufficient. I shall, of course, repeat and add some new arguments. There is a long list of similar offences to that set out in subsection (1), when Parliament has decided that in particular contexts it should be an offence knowingly to make a false or misleading statement. These offences apply in circumstances where a duty of complete honesty is expected. So, for example, there are offences, less serious than full scale fraud but culpable none the less, of making a false statement in relation to applications for driving licences and passports; and in an electoral context of donations to political parties. The example closest to that of MPs is the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, which makes it an offence knowingly or recklessly to provide information in respect of pecuniary interests which the councillor knows to be false or misleading. It is not unusual in criminal law to have a hierarchy of criminal offences; for example, if one person assaults another, that is potentially criminal, but whether a prosecution is brought and, if so, for what, will depend on what can be proved in relation to the seriousness of the injury and the intention of the attacker. There is a hierarchy of offences, depending on the intention of the attacker and the injury caused for assault occasioning actual bodily harm or grievous bodily harm to manslaughter or murder. Someone charged with GBH could inevitably have been charged with assault, but that does not mean that no one will ever be charged with GBH or that it is not right to criminalise less culpable behaviour. I agree with my noble friend Lord Campbell-Savours that the Bill sends out a very clear message, not just to members of the public but to Members of the other place. That is an important precept of the Bill. The new offence is not a soft option. Creating an offence specifically in respect to providing false information in an allowances claim makes it apparent to Members of the other place and the general public that we expect a duty of candour from our elected representatives on this matter. It is a backstop should this duty be flouted. I go back to the argument in the earlier debate about dishonesty. It is a high hurdle for the prosecution to mount; it is something in addition to knowledge and intention and requires that the prosecution proves that, first, the person has behaved dishonestly according to the ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people and, secondly, that the defendant realises that reasonable and honest people would regard what he or she did as dishonest. There is a big distinction between dishonesty and what is cited in respect of the new offence. I hope that the success of creating a new criminal offence and the success of the Bill will be judged not by criminal convictions but by honourable Members in the other place changing the way in which they act and that no prosecutions will be made.