LAST week, on the first day back in London, the Chancellor made a statement on the financial crisis which was short of positive future plans.
The Conservatives offered constructive support to the Government but also warned they would return later to find out how the country got into this position.
Vince Cable, the respected Liberal Democrat financial expert, said the Chancellor would have to provide strong and decisive leadership to get us through the crisis.
To my great relief, this leadership has now come from the PM and Chancellor and a Banking Bill went through unopposed on Tuesday. We can now only wait and see the effect of these measures.
The Government’s proposal for 42-day pre-charge detention, which only passed the House of Commons due to intense pressure from government whips and alleged bargaining with Northern Ireland MPs went to the House of Lords on Monday. It was thrown out in an amendment supported by a large majority of peers.
In the face of this degree of opposition the Government had no option but to withdraw the 42-day detention proposal from the Bill in the hope that the rest of the Bill will go through. The Home Secretary in her statement to explain the decision to withdraw the proposal blamed opposition parties for political activity rather than accepting that opponents of this extension of detention without trial or access to legal advice were taking the stand they did because they thought they were right regardless of party politics.
She tried to convince people even then that the argument of personal liberty to live rather than be killed by a terrorist bomb was of greater value than the personal liberty of alleged terrorists in a country that has prided itself on the assumption of innocence until proved guilty for hundreds of years.
Yet again it demonstrated the huge value of a well-informed second chamber to check on the first chamber and to prevent it from taking unacceptable measures.
A debate on treatment for rare and complex medical conditions took place on Tuesday. Members were able to draw attention to the differences in the results of complex case panel decisions in different parts of the country, to some of the shortcomings of the NICE process and to the arrangements for regional or national funding of treatment for extremely rare illnesses. This system leads to the funding of some extremely expensive treatments for very rare illnesses by-passing the NICE process which effectively rations drug treatment for some cancer patients. Some solutions were suggested but the minister responding disappointingly did not really address these.
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