Meeting of the Parliament 22 March 2016
The member makes a perfectly fair point, which will be explained if anyone cares to look at the Official Report. We had quite a lot of discussions about “forthwith”; we decided that, although it was not a word that one would probably meet in the pub, it was one that we all understood and should not be replaced.
Let me return to my point about needing the right people to don the legislative boiler suit in the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee. It occurs to me that, when we are trying to apply a chisel to the machinery of legislation, it is important to know that the member who is wielding the hammer is on the same side. I thank my colleagues on the committee for working in that way.
Let me return to the bill. I reiterate that we have gone to great lengths to ensure that we have not changed the law. I think that the bill has two uses. First, I suggest to members that it will be very effective bedtime reading, although that is unlikely to be necessary after a hard day’s canvassing. Secondly, for people who actually need to access the substantive law on bankruptcy, the bill has been cunningly designed: it starts at the beginning, goes on to the end and then stops.