Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill (Money) (No. 3)

Yes, they are. I am supporting amendment (b). The hon. Gentleman—who has made at least six interventions, each one more bovine than the last—ought to have read the amendment paper more closely. The single transferable vote system may or may not be beyond the voters in Edinburgh, but my experience of Edinburgh is that nothing is beyond them. It is certainly not beyond the voters of the Republic of Ireland who have developed that system into a fine art. It is as fine an art of political sophistication as is available anywhere in the western world. It is not beyond our people to grasp its complexities. Neither is it the case that one of the three Members for Dublin South is not regarded by the voters of Dublin South as their MP, nor that the MP for Dublin South does not regard himself as the MP for Dublin South because there are two other Members. That is absurd. The idea that this ossified system of ours—of ““one Member, one constituency”” of a given size—is a better system is foolish in the extreme. If we moved to the system in the Republic of Ireland, as we can do if we support amendment (b) this evening, things would change. But then, if things do not change, there is no hope for politics in this country. [Interruption.] I hear a sedentary intervention saying there is no hope for me. I have won five general elections, the first of which was against the great Roy Jenkins, who was prayed in aid by the hon. Member for Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small Heath (Mr. Godsiff) earlier this evening. Roy Jenkins was the first pillar of the establishment I defeated; he was not the last, and there may be more to come. Don't bet the farm on that. Roy Jenkins suggested to this Government more than 10 years ago that they could have grasped this nettle, yet they refused to do so for the same cynical reason that they are now grasping for it. If they had listened to Roy Jenkins and implemented the Jenkins commission report, the centre-left majority that exists is this country would be entrenched in power and the right-wing rump represented by these people here, who opposed votes for women, who opposed votes for working men—[Interruption.] They can laugh, but people know that the words democracy and the Conservative party do not easily fit together. This right-wing rump—[Interruption.]