European Parliament (House of Lords Disqualification) Regulations 2008

My Lords, I wonder whether the Minister will give way as I should like to respond to the noble Lord, Lord Lester. He is right that a constitutional convention is not a law, but nevertheless without constitutional conventions we could not be a member of the European Community as we would not be a democracy. Standing Orders at least, on the terms put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Lester, have the merit of being written down. That is why I argue that his approach to Standing Orders is completely undermined by my approach.