Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I apologise to the Minister, but my intervention is prompted partly by what the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, has just said. I shall not prolong this debate by uttering a word on that subject, save to say that I shall have a private conversation with the noble Lord about the internal arrangements of the Conservative Party at a later date and outside. A wise man once said in Latin, although I am certain I would be ruled out of order if I quoted the Latin: "““Him whom god wishes to destroy, he first makes mad””." In the case of ““him”” I am alluding to the present Administration. I am not in any way alluding to the Minister as their living representative in this Chamber. But throughout my life I have been brought up to believe that the lower in an organisation, entity or Administration decisions were made, the better and healthier those decisions are likely to be. That may make me in sympathy with the noble Lord, Lord Greaves. The problem with the part of the Bill that we are discussing is that that patently is not the case because of the powers that the Secretary of State is going to retain. In that respect the Bill is internally inconsistent and incoherent. The first part of the Bill was devoted to teaching us that we should be teaching the world, in our various communities, about the powers of local government and how they work. The complications that are writ large in this part of the Bill are just another part of the agenda that is going to have to be explained to voters so that they can understand how things work—and, frankly, we would be better off without them. The Bill is gradually on the way to becoming a municipal oxymoron.