Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

That was an interesting debate. Although it is sometimes hard to discern it, I believe that there is a broad measure of consensus on these matters. I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) prefers his own new clause, but he did not actually raise too many concerns about the Government's proposals, apart from the issue of retrospectivity, which I will come to. The hon. and learned Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) made a point about leave of absence. He will be aware of the correspondence on that. I remind him that the policy intention behind the new clauses is to ensure that those who sit in the United Kingdom Parliament pay tax on the same basis as the majority of the population. I hope that he will accept that his concerns would come into play only when someone was working abroad on public service. They would not refer to someone taking a leave of absence to avoid, or even evade, paying tax in this country. We are talking about people who go away to work on public service and, for the most part, for only a short period of time. I refer the hon. and learned Gentleman to what Lord Jay said to the House of Lords Appointments Commission, which I think everyone in this place and most people in the other place would accept. He rightly said that a position in the other place ought to be a job, not an honour. If someone stops doing that job, that is a matter for them. The option is clear: they can resign their position in the other place and not be covered by these provisions, or, if they wish to maintain a presence in the House of Lords, they should be covered by them. Apart from that, I am grateful for the hon. and learned Gentleman's support, and to him and his colleagues for putting their names to the new clause. This is the right way forward.