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Commons Bill [HL]

I support my noble friend. It will be bitterly resented if the Bill does not provide a clear way for a commons association to have its case heard in a manner which meets the normal requirements of natural justice. In its present form, Clause 33(3) appears to give the kind of centralised control that the Minister has been at pains to say he is seeking to avoid in the Bill. I think that Amendment No. 187, tabled by my noble friends, is the right way forward. We have discussed the role of the commons commissioner at a previous sitting of the Committee. Perhaps the Minister can suggest the use of some other mechanism, but if he is not able to find something which will ensure that a dispassionate view is taken of issues of this sort—when a commons association feels that it is being unreasonably overruled—we shall have to go back to the commons commissioner. There must be a way in which these issues can be addressed independently. For that reason, I hope that the Minister will think very carefully indeed about the suggestion before him.