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European Union (Amendment) Bill

My Lords, we are into very deep waters here. As for your Lordships’ House, which it is absolutely right for the Leader of the House to be concerned with, the procedure she outlines where we have a certain flexibility outside the powers of the Executive would give rise to the opportunity for debates, Motions and maybe even votes amending those Motions in accordance with the Bill. Our concern tonight is with the broader issue of the position of Parliament as a whole and that means the position of both Houses in relation to the Executive agreeing, through the process described in the treaty, to changes in the treaty and the removal of vetoes on certain areas of activity. Those might be significant or insignificant; they might be announced in the middle of the night for trade-off or in the middle of the day. I have no idea which. But now the noble Baroness says that this is all to be under SO 21. Well, I have SO 21 under my finger, and it is all to do with notice of Questions: "““(1) Questions shall be taken on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, after private business and motions for unopposed returns have been disposed of.""(2) No question shall be taken more than one hour after the House sits, except questions which have not appeared on the order paper but which are in the Speaker's opinion of an urgent character and relate either to matters of public importance or to the arrangement of business””." I repeat: are we talking about the Executive allowing government time? That still leaves the whole process basically in the hands of the Executive in the other place. We are all realists about what that really means: the Executive are still calling the shots. Are we talking about Back-Benchers, chairmen or members of Select Committees, who are Back-Benchers in the other place, seeking the support of the Speaker in getting the equivalent of what used to be an SO 20 order, now, apparently, an SO 21 order? I do not understand which of those is proposed, and whether the Executive really are relinquishing power or just seeking, through this arrangement with committees to— I have not quite finished my question, but I do not understand this.