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Parliamentary Standards Bill

My Lords, I shall come to that point immediately as it is raised. We believe that the amendments that are already on the Order Paper, and those which are likely to flow from today’s debate, will require at least three days in Committee next week. That is our preference. If that preference is not met by the Government’s business managers we will review the situation because we do not believe that it will be possible to achieve the radical surgery that this Bill requires in the time currently available. If it is the view of this House that it is appropriate to delay further consideration of this Bill for 10 or 12 weeks, I suggest that it is out of touch with public opinion. As has already been said by many Members of this House, the public consider that this matter needs to be addressed. That will not be achieved by accepting every bit of this Bill in its present form. Indeed, it has already become clear that it may be appropriate to amend the first part of the Bill to address the public’s concern and leave some of the latter parts for the time being.