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Business of the House

With your indulgence, Mr. Speaker, I would like to keep the House fully informed about the hon. Gentleman’s prospects in the current leadership contest in the Liberal Democratic party. The House has been eager to learn whether he will put his hat into the ring, and the odds are shortening each week as other runners and riders fall by the wayside. We now know, from an email from the chief aide of the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, that the hon. Gentleman does not want to stay neutral and not declare for anyone. We are all delighted to see that Liberal Democrats are breaking the habit of a lifetime and getting off the fence. Time is running out for the hon. Gentleman to announce his candidature and we give him every opportunity today to do so. On the issue of extraordinary rendition, I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman did not listen carefully enough to the answer that I gave earlier. The document to which he refers predates the statements made to the House by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary. He set out clearly the relevant facts and those facts have not changed. As a matter of simple timing, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will accept that they can hardly have changed as a result of a document that predated the announcements that have been made. I am also interested in the hon. Gentleman’s position on organised fraud. If he had looked a little more carefully at the issue, he would have seen that it concerns identity fraud. I am therefore slightly surprised by his party’s position on identity cards, as part of the underlying policy for introducing identity cards is to deal with identity fraud. If the hon. Gentleman were on this side of the House, he would have to supply some answers, instead of merely raising questions in the way that he does. I realise that supplying answers is something that the Liberal Democrats are not good at, but practice makes perfect. Perhaps if he would have a go at it, it might help. As far as the issue of interception is concerned, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister set out clearly the Government’s position yesterday and I have nothing to add to that.