Bills under Urgency

I’ve previously blogged that passing bills under urgency without select committee scrutiny, will lead to flaws in the laws that will need to be corrected later.

It is of greater concern that the bills to be debated have not been made available to MPs at the first available opportunity. The Herald reports:

More pertinently, when it comes to advance copies, National says its hands are tied by Parliament’s arcane rules which do not allow the Government at this stage to “publish” bills before they are formally introduced into the House. Moreover, National says Labour is well aware of this.

If this is true, then the rules should be changed. I am sure all parties would agree. Allow the Government to put them up on the Government website as a proposed Bill, so MPs and the public can see it prior to formal introduction.

I understand that copies of at least some of the bills were distributed last night, which is good.