---

Police reform and social responsibility Bill

The hon. Gentleman says that there is no support for the reform, but let me read him two quotations. The first is from the Lib Dems' manifesto, which says on page 72 that they will"““Give local people a real say over their police force through the direct election of police authorities.””" This is the second quotation:"““only direct election, based on geographic constituencies, will deliver the strong connection to the public which is critical””." That was the hon. Gentleman himself, in a speech in 2008. Rather than there being no support for reform, is it not true that the case for reform of police governance has been made right across the political spectrum?