Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

I will wind up with one final point. I see that the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, is in his place; he may want to comment on it. Our committee, with his agreement and that of the noble Lord, Lord Renton, concluded as follows in 2004, when we were anticipating the new Parliament of 2005: "““A new Parliament has an opportunity to pause and consider what it is there for, and what the public has the right to expect of it””." Pause, and consider. I suggest that the Government of 2005 funked the job and did not do what could have been done. However, that does not mean that now rushing headlong towards an arbitrary number of MPs and making the type of changes that have been suggested is a good way forward. This is a marvellous moment for this House to show maturity and judgment, to understand who it is responsible to and to do something that the 280 young people who were here a couple of months ago would wish us to do—namely, to use wisdom and common sense to hammer out something that will be sustainable and in the long-term interests of this country.