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Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [HL]

I was pleased to hear the noble Lord refer to county councils, because they very rarely or never appoint freeman. The noble Lord may have the freedom of Enfield, but he actually lives in Essex, so if this amendment went through we might be able to confer on him the freedom of Essex. The problem has just been highlighted. For example, we do not have an Essex regiment now—it is part of the Royal Anglian Regiment. There never has been a south Essex regiment, to which the television hero Sharpe is supposed to belong, but we have had an Essex Regiment. We would like the county council to honour the Essex Regiment for the part that it has played in Afghanistan, from which it has just recently returned. That is the sort of thing that relates to the first part of the Bill, about getting people to understand more about local government. If we can do things like that, it brings local government to the fore as part of our heritage and the things that people do. I very much support the amendment and hope that the Government find ways in which to do this.