Member

If I were advising the Government, which I am not, and they were thinking of bringing in a narrow Bill—let us say about an age limit or the Bishops; I do not think they will, but if they did—I tell them not to, because it would lay itself open to a whole series of amendments just as we are seeing here today on a very narrow Bill. I am baffled as to why the House authorities here and in the Commons thought that it was absolutely in order to have this kind of huge debate on a very narrow proposition. At the very least—I know that the horse has bolted and that we are having these discussions now—I hope that the Procedure Committee will look at this, because it will be a massive deterrent to any future very narrow debate on a Bill relating to this House, let alone a Bill of the scope of that of the noble Lord, Lord Newby, which would take most of our lifetimes to discuss. That is my simple proposition: please let us get over all this stuff that is not directly related to the Bill. Perhaps the Procedure Committee should have a look at it.