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House of Lords Bill [HL]

As I said when I repeated my right honourable friend’s statement, no definition has ever been given of stage 2. What is clear is that last February’s White Paper led to votes in both Houses. The Government then decided to go through a procedure of establishing a joint working group that will lead, we hope, to the publication of a White Paper and an expectation that party manifestos at the next election will reflect as broad a consensus as possible. There would then be legislation. That is the best definition that I can give of stage 2.