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   From: oO@oO.com   
      
   Reform bill could 'sweep away parliamentary debate'   
      
   Matthew Tempest and agencies   
   Wednesday February 22, 2006   
      
   Guardian Unlimited   
      
   The Conservatives and senior legal experts today joined forces to attack a   
   new government bill they fear will give ministers sweeping powers to amend   
   or even introduce new laws without sufficient scrutiny from MPs.   
   The seemingly arcane legislative and regulatory reform bill - which is   
   currently going through parliament - was billed by the government as aiding   
   business by cutting red tape from existing legislation.   
      
   But the Tory MP Ken Clarke, currently leading the party's "democracy   
   taskforce", said it would give ministers scope to amend laws whilst   
   "sweeping away parliamentary procedure and debate on an astonishing scale".   
      
   And a group of Cambridge University lawyers, led by professor John Spencer   
   QC, has warned that the bill could potentially allow ministers to rewrite   
   virtually any act of parliament, permitting them, for example, to abolish   
   jury trial, put people under house arrest, rewrite immigration law or sack   
   judges.   
      
   But Jim Murphy, the parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, which is   
   responsible for the bill, insisted today there were a series of safeguards   
   in place.   
      
   He told the BBC: "I have given assurances that there are more safeguards on   
   the face of this bill than before, that we will have statutory consultation,   
   we will not do anything that is highly controversial and the relevant select   
   committees of the House of Commons will have a veto on every single   
   proposal."   
      
   Under the proposals, which were in Labour's 2005 general election manifesto,   
   ministers will be able to introduce orders to amend, repeal or replace all   
   primary and secondary legislation.   
      
   Mr Clarke acknowledged that the orders could be challenged, but said this   
   was "a very limited procedure".   
      
   He pointed to the renewal of controversial control orders for terrorist   
   suspects after less than two hours of debate by MPs.   
      
   The former chancellor said he sympathised with the intentions of the   
   legislation, but told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "They have produced   
   a bill which could be used to sweep away parliamentary procedure and debate   
   on an astonishing scale."   
      
   He added: "You can cut out the full parliamentary process but there must be   
   some safeguards."   
      
   Mr Clarke acknowledged verbal pledges by ministers that the powers would not   
   be used for highly political measures, but said these were not enough.   
      
   He challenged the government to include "absolutely clearly" on the face of   
   the bill a process whereby parliament could insist that the orders were only   
   used in totally non-controversial areas.   
      
   Professor Spencer, in a letter to the Times, said that, according to the   
   bill, if passed as currently drafted, "the government could rewrite almost   
   any act and, in some cases, enact new laws that at present only parliament   
   can make".   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)