EU: Police and Justice

Lord Bach Excerpts

Tuesday 8th February 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord McNally]

I will have to check carefully whether “daft” is a parliamentary term, but I would have thought that such a course of action would be somewhere in that range of description.

[Lord Bach]

My Lords, it is very good to have the Minister back answering Questions on behalf of the Government. We missed him.

The Minister will know that, during the last Parliament, the Justice Select Committee looked at this matter with some care and, I have to say, commended the last Government for much that they did in this undoubtedly very complex field. The present Government are to be commended on their reply to the Select Committee of another place, in which they said that,

“this Government intends to play a strong and positive role in the European Union”.

We say “Hear, hear” to that.

Would the Minister agree that what are needed before we move to legislation of any kind under the Stockholm programme are evidence-based proposals and a long look before we actually legislate? Is it not the truth about this matter that it is necessary always to be sensible and practical about it?

[Lord McNally]

My Lords, yes it is. That is why we are following the pattern, as the noble Lord said, of looking at these matters in a pragmatic and practical way, with a mind to defending essential British interests and making sure that our judicial system is protected while also ensuring that we retain the many benefits of cross-border and EU co-operation referred to by my noble friend Lord Thomas.