§
Lords amendment: No. 1, in page 1, line 7, leave out
(", and one of them shall be appointed chairman")
§ The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr. Adam Ingram)I beg to move, That this House does agree with the Lords in the said amendment.
§ Madam SpeakerWith this, it will be convenient to discuss Lords amendments Nos. 20, 21 and 23.
§ Mr. IngramThese are all Government amendments concerned with the appointment of joint chairmen of the sentence review commissioners. The reason behind the amendments is to ensure that the Secretary of State will be able to satisfy clause 1(3), which states:
In making appointments the Secretary of State shall have regard to the desirability of the Commissioners, as a group, commanding widespread acceptance throughout the community in Northern Ireland.The appointment of a chairman is of particular significance, and it is felt that there could be considerable merit in appointing joint chairmen, hence the amendments.
§ Mr. Andrew MacKay (Bracknell)I rise briefly to say that the Opposition fully support this group of amendments. To prevent us from wasting further time on the Bill, I can tell the House that we agree with all the other amendments. It has been extremely helpful for the Government to have improved and modified the Bill in the other place. We are grateful to them, and we appreciate the trouble that the Minister has taken.
§ Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough)The Liberal Democrats support all the amendments, which are clearly improvements to the Bill. We support the Government on all the amendments tabled.
§ Madam SpeakerMay I collect the voices on all the amendments?
§ Mr. Kevin McNamara (Hull, North)No, Madam Speaker.
§ Madam SpeakerSorry, on amendment No. 1. Do you wish to speak, Mr. McNamara?
§ Mr. McNamaraI thought, Madam Speaker, that you were suggesting that our voices should be collected on all the amendments. I want to get advice from the Minister about the content and meaning of the new clause. I would be delighted if you wanted to take amendments Nos. 1 to 15.
§ Madam SpeakerI cannot. I must take them individually. I shall first collect the voices on amendment No. 1.
§ Lords amendment agreed to.
§ Lords amendments Nos. 2 to 15 agreed to.