Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Cabinet Office

Oral Answers to Questions

Graham Stringer Excerpts
Tuesday 24th May 2011

(13 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. Opposition Members simply cannot get their heads around the fact that this Government are prepared to listen. We are prepared to listen to doctors, nurses, consultants and patients. What is more—this is something the Labour Government never did—when we think we can improve our proposals, we are prepared to do so.

Graham Stringer Portrait Graham Stringer (Blackley and Broughton) (Lab)
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T6. The Deputy Prime Minister has repeated ad nauseam that the commitment to reform the House of Lords was in all three parties’ manifestos. [Hon. Members: “It was.”] Of course it was. Does that not mean that the electorate did not have the choice to vote for somebody who did not want to reform the House of Lords? Is there not therefore a strong case for a referendum on this issue, which is much more important than AV?

Nick Clegg Portrait The Deputy Prime Minister
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A seriously surreal doctrine is emerging. The hon. Gentleman was unable to persuade his colleagues to exclude the issue from the manifesto, so he wants to circumvent the manifesto on which he stood at the last general election by way of a referendum.