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Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

That is very much the point that I wanted to make. I imagine that the reaction around the House might be: ““What do those 280 sixth-formers represent? Young people who have not yet formed a judgment””. Our debate today is about them. We are making decisions that will intimately affect their futures—not ours, because we will be gone. I was very impressed by the speech of my noble friend Lord Prescott. He is absolutely right; we are making decisions that may be implemented by a far less benign Government. I am not referring to a Conservative Government or to the coalition, because we do not know who or what will turn up in the next 10 or 20 years, nor do we have any idea what pressures there might be on the electorate. We are establishing a precedent whereby a determined Government, simply because they have a majority, can ram through constitutional change. Woe betide my children and grandchildren if they are forced to deal with the consequences. This is a very important debate. I have sat through any number of debates in your Lordships’ House that have been interesting but not important. I have also sat through some that have been important but not interesting. Today’s—and last night’s—debate has been both interesting and important.