Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

I am sorry, but the Minister is proposing a referendum which will change the constitution. That is what the referendum is about and, as his leader reminded us, it is the most important constitutional change since 1832. I hope that the noble Lord does not think that the questions being asked—it is the first that I have asked—are trivial or ““hobgoblins””, or some other phrase. He has constantly repeated the mantra: ““Fair votes in fair constituencies””. I do not like tripping down that road by using that language, but I might as well. How about ensuring that it is a fair referendum? That is what these questions are all about, and it would be simply too late to consider them ““after we have changed the constitution””. That may be the result of the referendum, although I fervently hope not, and it would be too late to say, ““Sorry we got the expenditure rules wrong; we will put them right next time””. If the noble Lord cannot see that the issue needs to be addressed now, before the referendum, I suspect that not just those of us on both sides who have been asking questions, but a lot of noble Lords who have not felt it necessary to contribute to this debate may feel that a straightforward answer is required.