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Administration Committee

I am sorry that I have not convinced my hon. Friend. I did not think I was struggling to use the example as an argument. The term limitation on Chairmen of Select Committees is designed to stop people, no matter how competent, being appointed almost in perpetuity, or as long as they are Members of the House. That is why we are trying to lay down rules which, I believe, will work to the advantage of the House and are fairly simple and straightforward, but give the flexibility that a common-sense approach would allow. Let me move on to some of the other issues that were raised. The hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell raised the time taken to set up Select Committees and compared that to 2001, but it is not a fair comparison. Since I was appointed Deputy Leader of the House, I have tried to avoid hurtful phrases, so I shall say that the result this time for the hon. Gentleman’s party was less disastrous than in 2001. It necessitated at least three changes to the way in which we approached Select Committees. There have been negotiations between the parties on the size of the Select Committees. There have been discussions about which party should seek to have its Members chairing certain Select Committees, and how many Select Committees it is fair for each party to chair. That has been the subject of tough negotiation—