Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I am not going to comment on one or two individual cases, because I am not familiar with all the details of them. All that I would say to the hon. Gentleman is that we are making law here, and hard cases make bad law. I hope that he will forgive the aphorism. We have to make law to cover the generality of the people who sit here. In the particular cases that he is talking about, all kinds of mechanisms have been set up. That reminds me of a point that I wanted to pick up with my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle. He will correct me if I am quoting him wrongly, but I believe he said that it was a sad reflection that we had to rely on the Information Commissioner in such matters. It is not a sad reflection, as that is precisely why the Government set up the Information Commissioner's office—to ensure that people have access to the information to which they are entitled. That is a fundamental principle of our programme of constitutional reforms. We are proud of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and we are going to enhance it, not row it back. It is not a sad reflection at all; it is a celebration of this Government's achievement with the Freedom of Information Act. I hope that my hon. Friend will recognise that when he comes to speak again shortly. He should be pleased with what the Information Commissioner's office has done; I would hope that he welcomes it. Finally, I remind the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Mr. Heath) that there are other mechanisms to deal with alleged wrongdoing in particular cases. No doubt they will be pursued and I have no doubt that my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle, along with many others, will be pursuing the issue in the weeks and months to come. I welcome what I took to be the welcome of the hon. Member for Wyre Forest (Dr. Taylor) for the Bill's provisions and indeed for the Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 . I am grateful for his support, and I hope that the Committee will accept the amendments. Question put and agreed to. New clause 85 accordingly read a Second time, and added to the Bill.