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House of Lords Bill [HL]

My Lords, before the noble Lord sits down, perhaps he would care to recall Winston Churchill’s words about Stanley Baldwin. He said that he was a man who often stumbled across the truth but would quickly pick himself up and hurry on as though nothing had happened. It seems that today the Government have stumbled on the truth that Back-Bench opinion in this House is very strong and is not being heard. It is not being heard for one reason: it is one thing to hold those views, which the Minister has said the Government will listen to, but it is another to have those views represented in a body that will have some influence. Therefore, I ask the Minister to take away with him the thought that he has stumbled across the truth but has hurried on as though nothing had happened.