Manchester City Council Bill [Lords](By Order)

Is the Minister saying that the matter is to be dealt with by local authorities and that he will therefore endorse the Bills? If he is saying that there is not enough evidence for a national decision to be made and a national Bill to be put through, how does he square the circle with the fact that some areas of Britain—namely places such as the whole of Northern Ireland and, indeed, London, Medway, Liverpool and Leicester—have already had this legislation? We find ourselves in a strange position that surely needs to be reconciled.