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From Anne Palmer

Statutory Instruments. (Explanation)

There are two main types of statutory instruments, affirmative instruments, which Parliament must expressly approve: and negative instruments, which become law without a debate or vote – but may be opposed, or “prayed against”, by a member of either House. In both cases, Parliament’s room for manoeuvre is limited. Parliament can accept or (theoretically)_ reject an instrument but cannot amend it. In practise, time for debating statutory instruments is limited.

The first time I came across the Bill was the morning of the 10^th Feb 2006 when going through the Commons Hansard for the 9^th Feb. I nearly passed the debate by because the title Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill meant nothing to me at that time. However, I have trailed Parliament for so long now, I have found that the most innocent of titles can hide some of the most fierce despotic legislation. I decided to ‘have a look’. What I saw at a glance through trailing down, made me print off the whole debate to go through in greater and detail.

Here are some excerpts and although these alerted me at the time, they are mild to what comes in the Standing Committee’s 8 debates.