I know that the hon. Gentleman is an impatient individual, but 10 weeks is not a long time to wait in engaging in a consultation. [Interruption.] He says, “Three and a half years”, but what is 10 weeks on top of that?
2.30 pm
Prior to Baroness Hollins’ amendments on Report in the Lords, clause 8 provided a basis for individuals to bring civil claims in relation to the misuse of private telecommunications systems. That might include, for example, an employer misusing a corporate network to
spy on his or her employees. That is an important safeguard that was argued for forcefully and convincingly by a number of Members of this House, including the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West (Joanna Cherry). It was in large part on the basis of her arguments that the Government amended the Bill to include this provision.
Let me address the point of order raised by my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg). One of the Government’s contentions as to why this amendment should be rejected is because it goes against the grain of legislating over and above the will of the Scottish Parliament. As a former Member of the Scottish Parliament, I recognise the importance of the Sewel motion. I urge SNP Members to join us in voting down the amendment, because they cannot pick and choose when devolution is or is not appropriate. Do they wish us to go through the procedures of the legislative consent motion and give the Scottish Parliament the courtesy it deserves, or are they saying that they accept in principle that there are some occasions when we could legislate without a legislative consent motion in the Scottish Parliament? I look forward to the reply from the hon. and learned Member for Edinburgh South West.