Lord Tebbit
Main Page: Lord Tebbit (Conservative - Life peer)(13 years, 10 months ago)
Lords ChamberIt is important for noble Lords to bear in mind that this is a complex process. The decision-making process has been decided; now we have the implementation process. Implementation involves people’s lives and jobs and it would be recklessly irresponsible to anticipate how government departments will handle individual public bodies within their remits. That is why I am not in a position to give any further details than I have already given.
My Lords, will my noble friend advise some opposition Peers to guard against the danger of becoming injured by the consumption of their own verbosity and indignation, and remind them that it is overwhelmingly in the public interest that, when an announcement on the spending review is due tomorrow, it should not come out in dribs and drabs beforehand?
I know, my Lords, that Labour Peers used to practise that game on the sofas in among the spin doctors, but it is overwhelmingly in the public interest that the spending review comes out first and that the details of it are then announced so that we can see how they fit into it.
I thank my noble friend for his intervention, which reinforces the point which I have been making, that there will be a series of announcements from individual spending departments consequent upon the spending review.