Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

The noble Lord has said that this will be removed from the Bill. I congratulate him on doing that. After all, this is a constitutional Bill, and the altering of the constitution is a great and impressive thing to do. It requires more time than just wash-up. It is derisory to think that a major change to the constitution could come about as a result of an agreement in a wash-up. The fact that the Liberal Democrats always want an alternative voting system is like a mania. They always want it, irrespective of the arguments. The fact is that most people, other than the Liberal Democrats, do not understand how it works and do not realise that there are 12 alternative systems and each of the 12 provides a different answer. You cannot just say, "Let’s have an alternative voting system", because it depends on which one you choose, and on which one you choose depends on the result of the vote. I am thrilled that the Government have at least seen sense over this.