The MP was being a bit disingenuous in querying this wording when she pondered whether the Secretary of State knew "his SQL from his Javascript".
In British law, this phrase is code for leaving the implementation details to the civil servants in the relevant ministry, who will have the de facto power to make law here. In this case that's probably a reasonable thing to do, rather than attempting to codify exactly what is or isn't computer code in the inflexible primary legislation. In general, though, it's a mechanism to reduce accountability and erode democracy.
Comments
The MP was being a bit disingenuous in querying this wording when she pondered whether the Secretary of State knew "his SQL from his Javascript".
In British law, this phrase is code for leaving the implementation details to the civil servants in the relevant ministry, who will have the de facto power to make law here. In this case that's probably a reasonable thing to do, rather than attempting to codify exactly what is or isn't computer code in the inflexible primary legislation. In general, though, it's a mechanism to reduce accountability and erode democracy.