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Report from the House of Commons Reform Committee on Rebuilding the House

My hon. Friend makes his own point in his own way. Parliamentary democracy also requires there to be strong political parties, and there has been some discussion of parties today, but a Parliament that is worthy of the name can operate only if political debate is not entirely within, and controlled by, the parties, even if much of that discourse takes place behind closed doors. So we need both parties and independent-minded Back Benchers. As has been pointed out, it is certainly the case that there have been a fair number of Back-Bench rebellions since Iraq. It is therefore not true that this has been a complete patsy Parliament, but the trouble for Parliament as an institution is that, on at least three counts, our task is getting more difficult all the time.