Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but I simply do not agree with him. We need to set a precedent occasionally. We are discussing an entirely novel procedure, to which a brake needs to be applied, and we have suggested a good brake. That view is clearly shared by the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke), who chairs the august body in the Conservative party that is working on exactly these matters. His opinions should carry some weight among Conservative Members. We ought to send a signal today, which is why, given the opportunity, I will press new clause 14 to a Division this evening, and I will do so content in the knowledge that it would serve the interests of Back Benchers, minority parties and those who would not otherwise have the opportunity to make their voice heard—and who ought to be heard, either in a Select Committee or a Statutory Instrument Committee—at a later stage. My worry about leaving the issue to another place, as I think the hon. Member for Huntingdon intimated, is that Members of the House of Lords will be very cautious indeed about expressing an opinion, because it is quintessentially a House of Commons matter. My worry is that they will simply not feel able to make the necessary intervention. That is why tonight’s debate is so important—it may be our last opportunity to make it clear that the procedure that the Government propose will not do. If the Bill is passed today by a Government majority, I do not believe that it will come back to us—I wish it would, but my fear is that the other place will feel inhibited about intervening in House of Commons business for all the reasons that we know, and therefore it will not come back to us for reconsideration. Therefore, tonight is make-your-mind-up time about whether we accept the very flawed mechanism that the Government propose.