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Business of the House

I will discuss the applicability of the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill to Scotland with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland. The hon. Gentleman has made better points about the issue of generic debates than he has today. In fact, it was not really a very good try, because he knows very well—it has been announced for long enough—that at the end of a parliamentary Session, business is inevitably dominated by ping-pong with the Lords. If he wishes to enter into a proper pact with us and agree that we can have the business—[Interruption.] I am sorry to raise this, but if he wants a pact with us, and if he is willing to ensure that, at the very least, Liberal Democrat peers follow a line similar to Liberal Democrat MPs, at least for starters, and then recognise the wisdom of the Government’s case on these Bills, there is a possibility—I do not think that we could manage it this time—of arranging slightly more time for debates on such subjects. But in the real world that we inhabit, in which Liberal Democrats at both ends of the House spend their time opposing very sensible legislation, I cannot— As we learned, the point and trick of opposition is to oppose legislation where the public is on one’s side and there is a good case for doing so, but not to oppose legislation that, although it has come from the Government, is none the less to be supported. [Interruption.] I know that, unlike the Tories, the hon. Gentleman has volunteered for a lifetime in opposition because he cannot cope with the idea of responsibility in government. If he carries on opposing everything for its own sake, he will stay permanently in opposition. It is complete and utter nonsense to suggest that there are no safeguards for the DNA database. My constituents are delighted that there is a DNA database that is now ensuring the conviction of rapists who were previously going free. I dare say the same is true in his own constituency, and what he needs to do is to explain to law-abiding members of the public there that, under his policy, all these criminals would be going free, but for the introduction of the DNA database. As for the evening of shoes, shopping and politics, I am mortified that the right hon. Member for Maidenhead, despite our very close association, did not invite me. I hope that she puts that right next time