Lord Chancellor (Transfer of Functions and Supplementary Provisions) (No. 3) Order 2006

My Lords, I am slightly worried about the way in which this rabbit has popped out of the hat in relation to the new Lord Speaker becoming a Church Commissioner. I take it that there is no restriction on the religious affiliation of Church Commissioners and that they do not have to be Christians or members of the Church of England; if they do we could find ourselves in some difficulty. It is something that ought to have been made plain to the people who are standing for this onerous task before they put in their statement of what they will do. It seems to me that it has been added to their CV after they have put in their 75 words. I am not saying that many of them would have made this a major plank in their platform, but it is odd that this rabbit has appeared suddenly out of this hat.