Police (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]
8:55 am
Mr David Wilshire (Spelthorne, Conservative)
I am nothing if not a realist. The Government have a majority in Committee, so I took it on myself to tell my colleagues that they need not come out at such an anti-social hour because, even if we did not wish to adjourn, we would
lose the vote. It is my fault that my hon. Friends are not in Committee, not because of a lack of interest in our proceedings.
I shall not take up the Committee's time other than to say that what we are going through this morning, what we went through on Tuesday and what will happen next Tuesday is certain proof of why guillotine motions are wrong. If such a motion had not been tabled, we would not have had to experience such a fiasco. We would have just been able to adjourn and meet again when necessary. However, because of the stupidity of the Government in tabling guillotine motions, we have to go through such an experience. Knives have the same result. I have made that point many times; I want to put on the record the fact that nothing has changed. This stupid way in which to do business was proposed by a stupid Government.