Business of the House (Lisbon Treaty) (No. 8)

I hope that my hon. Friend will make it clear that it was the Government who proposed the procedure: other people opposed it. The Government radically changed the way in which we are handling the Bill. That may be a good thing or a bad thing—in my view, it is an extraordinarily bad, selfish and rather unimaginative thing to do—but he should be proud of what he has done, because it was the Government's decision not to have amendments tabled in the normal way, not to proceed in the normal way, and to limit the discussion.