Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

I shall start at the point with which the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young) ended. I shared his frustration and sense of disbelief when Ministers told us, following the publication of the Kelly report, that no statutory changes would be required as a consequence. The fact that we now have before us in the Government's name 15 new clauses, four new schedules and an amendment in order to implement Kelly shows that we were absolutely right to express such impatience. At last, we have the opportunity to put these measures on to the statute book. The Liberal Democrats have taken the view, as have others, that it was important to implement the Kelly recommendations in full and as promptly as possible. That is what this process is about.