Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I think that the hon. Lady is being slightly disingenuous. The Government's broad intention has been clear for a very long time. We are talking about bringing forward specific clauses so that the details of our intentions can be scrutinised and discussed. That is where I hope the energy of the House will be directed. The quality of today's debate shows that Members of the House have a considerable contribution to make to achieving that radical reform—not temporising or providing transitional measures. That is where I hope we can focus the debate. I shall not dwell on them, but there are technical problems with the proposal and unanswered questions such as who would decide whether a person should be granted a term peerage or a life peerage, against what criteria the decision should be made and what would happen at the end of a fixed term, although we had a little discussion about reappointment. All those technical problems could be fixed if there were broad agreement that this is the right way forward because reform of the House of Lords is so distant. I do not agree with that.