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Business of the House

I want to say a word or two about the motion, which I want the Government to withdraw after reflection. I support the Crossrail project, but this is not the way to win friends and influence people. If we are to achieve consensus, which the hon. Member for Reading, West (Martin Salter) and others want, we must have a wide debate on Second Reading and in the early procedural stages to allow all the issues to be put on the table. It is entirely wrong for the Government to foreclose the discussion about what the Select Committee is entitled to do before we get into the substance of the debate, in which my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Tom Brake) will lead for the Liberal Democrats.