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Fixed-term Parliaments Bill

I go back to my point about the use of the phrase ““safety valve””, which I think appears throughout the Constitution Committee’s report in quotation marks. The question about whether it is for the Executive or the legislature is not one we pursued. In response to the exchanges we have just heard between the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, one is brought back to the question raised by my noble friend Lord Grocott: ““Why make this so complex? Why not just stick with the present position?””. Everything that the Constitution Committee said about this was in relation to the complexity of the provisions in this Bill.