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Fixed-term Parliaments Bill

There are so many flaws in the Bill's drafting. The Committee, on the hon. Gentleman's behalf, has done as good a job as it can in pointing them out. I hope that all of them will be put right during the Committee stage, as they could be put right if we were to have a special Public Bill Committee or a proper pre-legislative process. However, that is currently not the case. The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, and one that should be addressed by the Government as the Bill proceeds. The other thing about a fixed-term Parliament is predictability and continuity. Instead of permanent politics-as-entertainment, in which there is speculation about impending general elections and people feed tittle-tattle and gossip to raise or lower the political temperature, we will know that we can get on with serious business while knowing the date of the next general election and putting such considerations aside. That is something of great importance, and would lead to we as parliamentarians being able to seize greater control of what we do in this place on a number of issues, rather than being engaged, even at arm's length, in speculation about when an election will take place.