No, I will carry on for the moment and then give way.
People will value that law, and yet we are bringing it in and giving it a status that I regard as very unsatisfactory. There are a number of ways in which that could be addressed, including new clause 2, which has been tabled by the Opposition. I have tabled new clause 55, which I will briefly explain. It looks at the nature of retained EU law, establishes a general presumption that retained EU law may be amended only by primary legislation or subordinate legislation made under the Bill that we are enacting, and provides a framework for the Government to stipulate specific provisions of retained EU law that are merely technical, and therefore appropriate to be amended by subordinate legislation. I do not have any objection to that happening, but the rest would have to be dealt with by primary legislation. The new clause would provide much greater legal certainty about powers for future amendment of retained EU laws, and it would give the Government flexibility to amend technical provisions quite freely.
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New clause 55 would also safeguard standards of equalities, environmental and employment protection and consumer standards from amendment by subordinate legislation, precisely because in my experience as an MP, those are the areas that matter to people. I am aware that it has been suggested that some Conservative Members think that there are too many such rights around and that they in some way fetter economic activity. I regret to say that those are probably similar arguments, in some cases—no, I should withdraw that; I was about to say something that might have appeared improper. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that the history of this country since the middle of the 19th century has seen the development of protections for individuals. That started with little boys no longer being killed by being forced to go up chimneys and clean them. All those protections are part of a pattern that has radically contributed to the improvement of the quality of life of citizens in this country.