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Shipman Inquiry

That will be an area of debate on the legislation, but can I be clear that the hon. Gentleman accepts—I think he does—that there has always been an element of hybridity about medical regulation? A parliamentary process lays down the framework through which self-regulation happens. By definition, there will be some prescription in the legislation of the basic structure of that self-regulation. Perhaps I did not say it clearly enough to the hon. Gentleman, but that is exactly what is being developed. There will be no diminution of professional self-regulation.