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International Development (Reporting and Transparency) Bill

With great respect to the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh), the House was more convinced by the response of my hon. Friend the Minister and therefore voted accordingly. In a democratic Parliament, who am I to question that? The House itself, given that we have endorsed the need for an annual report, will decide on the issues that it wishes to pursue. It of course has a right to alter, through future legislation, what this legislation says. It also has the right to alter the 2002 Act—if that is the will of the House. I merely urge parliamentarians—frankly, in the light of today’s debate, I doubt whether such urging is necessary—to do the job that I know we all want to do: to serve our people, to question, to probe, and to deliver the best policies as effectively as we can within each of the Government Departments.