Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

Debate between Earl Howe and Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

Monday 26th October 2015 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

There is a clear difference in the wording—that is unarguable—but the effect is exactly the same. That is the point I am making.

[Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean]

I beg the noble Earl’s pardon. I have the greatest respect for him, but in her speech my noble friend Lady Hollis said explicitly that she had drafted her amendment with the help of the Clerk of the Parliaments, and the Clerk of the Parliaments said that it is not a fatal amendment. Is the noble Earl challenging that?

[Earl Howe]

I cannot gainsay the Clerk of the Parliaments; heaven forbid if I did that. Perhaps what was meant was that the wording of the amendment in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, is not of a kind that one associates with a fatal amendment. Nevertheless—