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Draft Legislative Programme

I am pleased to have the opportunity to reply to this important debate. The benefits of the decision to publish the legislative programme in draft and to give Parliament an opportunity to discuss the draft proposals have been vindicated by the debate. I point out to the right hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) that it is not a question of quantity; it is the quality that counts. As the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) said, the special debate on the draft programme was requested by the Opposition following the Prime Minister’s statement. It was a request to which we were happy to accede.