Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [Lords] — 1 Apr 2025 at 18:48

“Product regulations may provide that a product requirement is to be treated as met if-”.

“the use of delegated powers carries a risk of abuse by the Executive, which is not something the Opposition could ever support.”––[Official Report, Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Public Bill Committee, 1 February 2018; c. 305.]

“We remain of the view”

“the delegation to Ministers of law-making powers in this Bill involves legislative power shifting to an unacceptable extent from the…legislature to the Executive.”

“this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill [Lords] because it will provide for regulatory alignment with the European Union, and it has been condemned three times by the House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee as a skeleton Bill which provides, without justification, inappropriately wide powers for Ministers to re-write the regulatory regimes for product safety and the weights and measures of goods by regulations.”

“law to say that the sun must rise in the morning.”-[Official Report, 26 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 812.]

“a real need to consider the balance between primary and secondary legislation, which in recent years has weighed too heavily in favour of delegated powers…excessive reliance on delegated powers, Henry VIII clauses, or skeleton legislation-”

“upsets the proper balance between Parliament and the executive.”

“The question of dynamic alignment with the EU remains unanswered yet ever more topical.”-[Official Report, House of Lords, 12 March 2025; Vol. 844, c. 712.]

“a model example of how Parliament would like to see legislation brought forward”,

“the use of delegated powers where possible”.-[Official Report, 18 January 2023; Vol. 726, c. 409.]

“a Henry VIII Bill par excellence”. -[Official Report, House of Lords, 20 November 2024; Vol. 841, c. GC44.]

“signifies an exceptional shift in power from Parliament to the executive and entails the Government, in effect, asking Parliament to pass primary legislation which is so insubstantial that it leaves the real operation of the legislation to be decided by Ministers”.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”

“the science of measurement and its application”,

“metrology includes all theoretical and practical aspects of measurement, whatever the measurement uncertainty and field of application”.

“branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather”,

“To measure is to know”.

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”

“failed to provide a convincing justification”.

“the delegation to Ministers of law-making powers in this Bill involves legislative power shifting to an unacceptable extent from the democratically appointed legislature to the Executive”,

“the Government have failed to provide a convincing justification for the inclusion of skeleton clauses in the Bill”.

“There is to be a single measure for wine throughout our realm, and a single measure for ale, and a single measure for Corn… And it shall be the same for weights as for measures.”

“Over time, the limited powers we retained in domestic legislation became less effective. Rather than update these, the UK relied on powers in the European Communities Act (ECA) 1972 to introduce new harmonised legislation to deal with product safety and metrology.”

“A complex, forever changing landscape”

“not allow for many of the changes necessary to keep pace with technological advances and modern hazards.”

“cause, or be susceptible to, electromagnetic disturbance.”

“We remain of the view…that the Government have failed to provide a convincing justification for the inclusion of skeleton clauses in this Bill that give Ministers such wide powers to re-write in regulations the substance of the regulatory regimes for products and metrology.”

“excessive reliance on delegated powers, Henry VIII clauses, or skeleton legislation, upsets the proper balance between Parliament and the executive. This not only strikes at the rule of law values…but also at the cardinal principles of accessibility and legal certainty. In my view, the new Government offers an opportunity for a reset in the way that Government thinks about these issues. This means, in particular, a much sharper focus on whether taking delegated powers is justified in a given case, and more careful consideration of appropriate safeguards.”

“the use of delegated powers carries a risk of abuse by the Executive”.––[Official Report, Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Public Bill Committee, 1 February 2018; c. 305.]

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“We must bear in mind that the use of delegated powers carries a risk of abuse by the Executive, which is not something the Opposition could ever support. Rather, it is our duty at this stage to check the powers of the Executive and ensure that we are not giving them carte blanche to change the balance of power permanently in their favour.”––[Official Report, Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Public Bill Committee, 1 February 2018; c. 305.]

“stop banging on about Europe”,

“the practical reality is that technical regulations of the breadth and complexity that will be produced cannot sensibly be enacted by primary legislation.”

“little, if any, time for anything else.”-[Official Report, House of Lords, 26 February 2025; Vol. 843, c. 1716.]

“It’s encouraging that the government is prioritising a Bill that should address the huge gap in consumer protections which allows online marketplaces to facilitate the sale of unsafe and illegal products without facing repercussions.”

Debate in Parliament |