Privileges and Conduct Committee
Debate between Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean
Paragraph 7 says:
“‘Might’ implies speculation as to whether an interest is relevant. ‘Would’ implies more certainty”.
Surely in this area we need certainty, not speculation.
Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood
We need certainty as to when the obligation arises and the interest has to be declared. Surely, the whole object of this is to allay the public’s concern and allay a reasonable person’s suspicion that your interest might influence what you are going to say. That is what paragraph 11 currently provides for. You cannot sit quietly and not declare an interest merely because a reasonable person might, rather than necessarily would, think that it is going to affect what you are going to say. That would be an absurdly low test and completely out of harmony with all other public bodies, with the code in the House of Commons and the rest of it. I respectfully urge your Lordships to consider that, if you crossed out “might” and put “would” in the governing paragraph 11, this House would be brought into disrepute because it would be said, “They don’t have to declare an interest unless a reasonable person not might but would think that it would affect them”. Is not that an absurdly high test for when this obligation is brought into being?