House of Lords Reform Bill [HL]
Debate between Lord Cormack and Lady Saltoun of Abernethy
Lady Saltoun of Abernethy
My Lords, it is about time that somebody else spoke in favour of the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, and the noble Lord, Lord Trefgarne. It is quite unacceptable to have a Motion of this kind brought forward at the very last minute when we have all worked on the assumption that the amendments would be taken in the normal order, starting at the beginning of the Bill and going on to the end.
Lord Cormack
My Lords, it may be possible to accuse the noble Lord, Lord Steel, of certain things but to accuse him of discourtesy is quite wrong. What he seeks to do as a Private Member in charge of this Bill, having listened to colleagues in all parts of the House, is to produce something that is more acceptable to most of them than his previous Bill was. What he proposes in the Motion that he has moved this morning will enable us to move on, as the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, has said, to substantive discussions on those parts of the Bill on which there is, I detect, a fairly general consensus in this House. We are all in the debt of the noble Lord, Lord Steel. We should thank him for what he has done and support his proposal.