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Canterbury City Council Bill

I rise to support the Bill that the hon. Member for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) has sponsored and the Nottingham City Council Bill. Owing to the pressures of high office, my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, East (Mr. Heppell), who is sitting beside me, is not in a position to put forward the case for the Nottingham Bill. However, I must begin not by making an abject apology. Instead, I say to my hon. Friend the Minister that—please believe me—the nod from my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, East was a nod of approval towards the remarks of the hon. Member for Canterbury. There should be no ambiguity about that. My hon. Friend may not speak, but he can nod in approval.