Dawn
Primarolo: I find it somewhat difficult to accept that
although the very best scientists in the world, at the forefront of
this science, know exactly what to do in order to progress that
science, the hon. Gentleman seeks none the less to move an amendment to
give them the defence that they did not know that they were doing
something that the legislation applied to. We need to be very clear,
and being very clear about what the offence is means that the
scientists concerned must know the exact parameters within which they
are working. There should not be an ambiguous judgment to be made about
what a particular scientist may or may not have known at the point when
they breached the legislation. There is no defence in the 1990
Act— It
being One o’clock, The Chairman
adjourned the Committee without Question put, pursuant to the Standing
Order.
Adjourned
till this day at Four
o’clock.
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