House of Lords Bill [HL]

I feel terribly confused. I have never in my life before come across an Amendment A1A. I never intended that this should be a great debate. I was just seeking to tell the truth; that if those amendments had been agreed, the House would effectively be an appointed House. It did not matter whether they felt that they were appointed. I also know that no one wanted to leave. My proposal, very simply, was that those who would be elected and who had put their names down would be perfectly content if that list was placed before an appointments commission and the election process ceased. Therefore, they would probably be just as happy to be in the hands of a commission choosing them than they would with this rather strange electoral system. Having had such a debate which it was not my intention to have, if anyone else wants to press my amendment, they are very welcome to do so. Otherwise, I feel that the debate has been long enough. I apologise, because there are other things to debate. I did not mean it to go on like this. I just know that your Lordships do not want to be dismissed. There are many good points in the Bill. We know that the Liberals want to get more people in this House. We know that the Conservatives are likely to lose more and more people. The Labour Party wants to retain a majority and it hopes that the Cross Benches do not intervene too much. Unless anyone wants to take this further, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment A1A withdrawn.