'Abolition of Parliament' Bill to be amended ...

... to take account of the many criticisms made of the original version of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill, says Cabinet Office Minister Jim Murphy; speaking of the changes, he said:

"We have tabled amendments that put beyond doubt that this bill will deliver our better regulation agenda and nothing else. "The time has come for those who claim they want to tackle bureaucracy to show they mean what they say, and let the government get on with the crucial task of cutting unnecessary red tape."

- I have not yet been able to trace an online version of these amendments, although the comments by CBI deputy director John Cridland seem to indicate that these amendments are in the right direction (although it is not explicitly stated that he has seen the text of the latest amendments either!).

The online versions of this bill which I have been able to trace so far are as follows:

- original text of the bill as published on 11 January 2006, this was the subject of a post entitled 'Dictatorship Britain' in the making?, published in this blog on 15 February 2006;

- amended text of the bill as published on 9 March 2006, based on the deliberations of Standing Committee A in the House of Commons. Explanatory notes to explain the differences between this latest text and the version originally printed are here (but as the notes themselves declare: "They have been prepared by the Cabinet Office in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform debate on it. They do not form part of the Bill and have not been endorsed by Parliament."). The full text of the Standing Committee proceedings which led to this amended version is here.

I go into this in some detail because it is not until I have seen with my own eyes precisely what the latest amendments tabled by Cabinet Office Minister Jim Murphy contain that I will be convinced that the meaning he seeks to give to them is fully justified. I don't of course for one moment doubt what he says, but I have come to realise that it is necessary to analyse very carefully anything that this Government says.