Report comment

As someone who is neither in private practice, nor associated with the insurance industry, my view is that Parliament should legislate only where there is an objective need for it. An objective need can only be established if there is evidence to back it up. The Select Committee is part of the machinery of Parliament, one of whose main aims is to put the Government to proof when it asserts that there is a case for legislation to be passed. The Government knows this and should therefore be prepared to back up its case with evidence. If it fails to do so then it is either being incompetent or is promoting its unevidenced legislation for political/doctrinaire reasons. As in this case, it is then the job of the Committee to point this out and question the Government's stance. It is important as a matter of general principle that precious Parliamentary time should not be wasted on considering legislation that is not based on supporting evidence - goodness knows there is enough in the way of other issues at the moment that need such time to be spent on it!