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Administration Committee

I disagree with my hon. Friend, not least because the great strength of our Select Committee system is that it reflects the great strength of our political party system both in the House and in the country. It is a matter for the political parties represented in the House to determine the appropriate allocation of Members to the Select Committees. I do not know whether he was present at the most recent meeting of the parliamentary Labour party, where it was made clear that an inordinate amount of time had been spent on transparently and fairly selecting the Labour party’s representation. I obviously cannot speak for other political parties in the House, but his own political party went to a great deal of trouble to ensure that the nominations were in accordance with the principles of the Labour party. In those circumstances, I do not believe that he can complain that proper democratic procedures have not been adopted. Those are the proper democratic procedures of his and my political party.