Clause 40 - Short title, interpretation,commencement and extent
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Simon Burns (West Chelmsford, Conservative)
On behalf of the Opposition, Miss Widdecombe, I join the Minister in thanking both you and Mr. Hurst for the way in which you have chaired our proceedings. This has been a hard-fought Committee on points of policy, and we, as a responsible Opposition, have sought to help and guide the Government and to encourage them to avoid some of the pitfalls that we believe that they are opening up for themselves. However, the proceedings have not been marred by rancour or unpleasantness. Of course, it would have been marvellous to have heard more contributions from Labour Members. I was awaiting with interest the speech by the hon. Member for Crawley on the manuscript amendments, owing to her great concern about the issue. Overall, it has been a pleasure to serve on the Committee.