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Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

Allow me to continue before I get on to the main—[Interruption.] No. I wish to correct the noble Lord Steel, who was in that House at the time, I think, and who has taken a great interest in the matter. In the debates on his Bill, which contained provisions almost identical to these, he said:""It was clearly indicated at that time that this"—" the by-elections and the position with regard to hereditaries—""was a temporary measure to last perhaps a couple of years. We are nearing the 10th anniversary of that temporary measure."—[Official Report, House of Lords, 27 February 2009; Vol. 708, c. 432.]" He went on to make a joke about celebrating 100 years of Asquith's commitment to remove the hereditaries.