(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, I am not suggesting that about today at all. No one should think that about today. I heard only part of the debate and thought it was very good. I have huge respect for the noble Lord, as he knows, and I say it again. I know he is doing it very sincerely, but my point was about this week. We all need to respect the conventions and courtesies. As I said, my noble friend has prepared for this Bill and come in, and the right reverend Prelate has turned up here today; I am not prepared to say that we should ignore that and go home. If the noble Lord wants to divide the House, will he please do so? Then, we will decide. If not, let us get on with the Bill, and we will go home very soon.
My Lords, I add just a couple of sentences to what the Chief Whip has just said. Some of us have a five-hour journey ahead of us this evening, into more rural parts of the United Kingdom. Perhaps he would like to bear that in mind.
I do bear that in mind, absolutely. I fully understand that. To that, I say that we either divide the House now or get on with the Bill.
I am not in possession of that information. I will ensure that my noble friend gets an answer to her question. There will be an update in May, and it is quite possible that the answer will be contained in that.
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for being here today, but it is obviously disappointing that we have not got the Minister here. It is partly, I am sure, because of the way this was handled in the first place, with the announcement last night, which was not, as the noble Lord acknowledged, the best way to do things. Has the noble Lord seen the comments from the National Infrastructure Commission, headed by Sir John Armitt, from John Smith from GB Railfreight, and from Henri Murison from the northern powerhouse, who described the decision as “half baked”, “disappointing” and “a false economy”? Will the noble Lord comment on those remarks?
I have not seen the comments, but I accept that it is disappointing. We have had difficulties with the supply chain and there are now difficulties going forward for contractors, I fully accept that but, no, I have not seen those comments—but I am not surprised they have been made.
I suspect that some work has been done in the department on the demographic profile, but I am not in possession of it at the moment. On the redesign and the social environment, again, the Government will probably have looked at this together with the contractors. I cannot be more specific than that, but I imagine that this is quite a high priority.
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for being here today. We very much appreciate his coming to the House and the position that he has been put in, but could he arrange for a proper Statement to be made to the House and perhaps get the noble Baroness, Lady Vere, here to answer Members’ questions? That said, I thank him very much for being here today.
I am very grateful to the noble Lord; I will certainly take that back to the department.