Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for that intervention, which was very useful. If a full role is to be played by all Members of the House, and not just the Front Benchers, the negative procedure is not a satisfactory way forward. The Government have the opportunity to present the treaty as they wish, and the negative procedure is to be used, but if the Government still do not like the outcome, subsection (4) allows the Minister to have another go at it, and to say, "Despite what I've heard, I still think you're wrong." There is then a further period in which the treaty can be looked at. As has been pointed out, if he gets the "wrong" answer again, he can bring the treaty forward time and again, until attrition or weariness means that the Government get their way. Is that what is meant by giving the House a greater say on international treaties? It falls short of what we would want, ideally. The easy way round that is to support the amendment requiring treaties to be subject to the affirmative procedure.