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Government of Wales Bill

The amendments need not take up the Committee’s time. I am sure that the Secretary of State appreciates that they are probing amendments, which cover the powers in the clause to vary the date of the ordinary general election. With the hindsight afforded by the foot and mouth epidemic and perhaps the prospect of an avian flu epidemic, I wanted to ensure that we had built in sufficient flexibility in terms of altering the date and that we were not creating another Procrustean bed on which to tie ourselves in knots. Boxing ourselves into a corner on timing is inappropriate, not least because I would envisage some changes in a state of emergency or circumstances in which the movement of people was undesirable. I should be grateful if the Secretary of State responded in the spirit of the way in which I tabled the amendments, gave us further and better particulars of what would happen if some unforeseen outbreak occurred and explained whether we had the desired flexibility.