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Business of the House

I am enormously relieved that the right hon. Gentleman has not succumbed to the charm offensive emanating from the Conservative Front Bench, although I am sure that all Members will join me in rejecting the suggestion made by the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) the other day, that the right hon. Gentleman is a Victor Meldrew figure. That was clearly an outrageous assertion that no one could possibly want to agree with, apart perhaps from the hon. Member for Buckingham, who no doubt thought better of it as soon as he had made it. I have set out the Government’s decisions. We are having a debate on the matter before Christmas, which I thought Opposition Members were keen to do, and that will give all Members the opportunity to set out their strong views.