Parliament Square (Management) Bill [HL]

Lord Strathclyde Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2012 Lords Chamber

I make this point because the legislation was brought in by the Home Office around 10 years ago. I do not know the exact time but it was when Charles Clarke was Home Office Minister. That is not a criticism of him; it is just to give noble Lords an idea of the time window that I am talking about. Could the Minister here or the promoter of the Bill give us assurances that the Bill will solve the very problems that I have been talking about?

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde)]

My Lords, we are just passing my noble friend Lord Marlesford’s Bill, and it will then go to another place. However, I assure the noble Lord, Lord Martin of Springburn, that at the very highest level of our Government there is a great interest in what is happening in Parliament Square. There has been considerable improvement in recent months, but no stone is being left unturned—using legal means—to try to improve the situation. I hope that we can move on to whether the Bill do now pass.

Bill passed and sent to the Commons.