Clause 32 - Ancillary powers
Local Government Bill
8:55 am
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State (Local and Regional Government), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
The Minister is reasonable, but he will not accept the amendment from the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton. I was disappointed by the hon. Gentleman. We heard the usual rhetoric from him and from the Liberal Democrats about democracy and devolution and all the rest. He actually accused us of making a drafting error when moving his amendment. I must say to him that the drafting error was made in his amendment. Why have the Liberal Democrats been so timid? Why are the Tories behind the times? Of course, we know about the hon. Member for Cotswold and his encounter with the cleaners. In both cases, the Opposition have not recognised that there was a good intention behind this subsection: to ensure that we have the necessary information when we are making grants to a local authority.