Government of Wales Bill

No, I am sorry. Normally I would be very generous, but I have 10 minutes to wind up and 26 contributions to deal with. We have had a great deal of discussion and debate about the Orders in Council and the Assembly measures. The hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham mentioned the issue, as did my right hon. Friend the Member for Swansea, West (Mr. Williams), my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Dr. Francis), the hon. Members for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) and for Preseli Pembrokeshire (Mr. Crabb) and my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy). I will not go on with the list, but many Members made reference to the Orders in Council. According to the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve), the issue seems to be whether the Order in Council process will allow proper scrutiny of legislation. It might be worth while explaining how the system is proposed to work and then perhaps hon. Members will be reassured. An Order in Council would start with a debate in the Assembly, in which the policy arguments would be discussed. The Assembly Government would then request the Secretary of State to lay an order. It would be a preliminary draft Order in Council, alongside which would be an explanatory memorandum that would detail the policy, the practical effect and the legislative impact of the order. It would be for the House to decide how to undertake the pre-legislative scrutiny. We have the Welsh Affairs Committee, which has scrutinised many all-Wales pieces of legislation and done an excellent job. We also have the facility, if needed and if the House felt it was required, to use—