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Administration Committee

I do not anticipate that I will betray any confidences if I indicate to my hon. Friend that I have had some serious conversations with my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mrs. Dunwoody), in which she made her views known with, it is fair to say, considerable force. I make it clear, however, that the amendment does no more than give effect to what the House intended. There was an unintended consequence of the amendment made when this position was first established in the Standing Orders of the House which would allow, for example, someone who had by chance been elected on 21 July 1997 to continue in office for a further full term of Parliament if the relevant meeting happened to take place on 22 July 2005. That was not intended by the House. The House was clear as to its wish, which was to allow right hon. and hon. Members to serve as Select Committee Chairmen for two terms or for eight years, whichever happened to be the longer. The amendment simply gives effect to that; it does no more than that. It is not intended in any way to overturn the previous rule; it simply clarifies that rule and gives effect to what the House originally intended for its Standing Orders.