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Police and Justice Bill

I think that the right hon. Gentleman misunderstood my point. If there were to be a case for amalgamation—I am not accepting that there is—those three eastern counties would be more logical than the artificial creation of Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. A readers’ survey in the Colchester Evening Gazette showed that the solution that the Government have come up with is complete nonsense. There is absolutely no community of interest between the counties of Essex and Bedfordshire. A few communities on the Essex-Herts border may speak the same language, but if the Government are suggesting that there is a logical community of interest right across Essex, the most populous county in the east of England, and up into Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, they must have a different map of the United Kingdom—or rather England and Wales—from the one that I have. I recognise that there is a requirement to hold the line on what has been inherited, but I urge the Minister and the new Home Office team to listen to what is being said by right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber. That would be to their advantage. I recognise that the Government will whip the vote through, no doubt with the assistance of Scottish votes. However, I hope that after a few days’ reflection they will say, ““Is this right? What is more important—holding the line on what the previous Home Secretary proposed or what is right for the police forces of England and Wales?””