Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I think that the hon. Gentleman is using the very wide margin of appreciation afforded to Opposition Members to interpret what I said. That is not what I said: I said that we listened to the concerns and agreed that the right thing to do was to allow time to see how the proposals already in place bedded down. I also said that we are committed to nearly all the proposals originally put forward. To that extent, we do not accept the Committee's recommendation that we should not proceed with the changes. We think that they have merit, but also that we should allow more time to see precisely how we should take them forward. The promises are not postponed sine die. The Government have shown that we are serious about constitutional reform in all areas. Many people consider that we have achieved a quite revolution in bringing about a programme of constitutional reform. I am completely confident that it will stand the test of time. We will continue with the reform programme; nothing is postponed sine die. Question put and agreed to. Clause 35 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Schedule 5 agreed to.