Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Paul Goodman (Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Wycombe, Conservative)
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr. Illsley. I have sat under your chairmanship twice before, and my memory of the occasions is as dim as it is pleasant. I am looking forward to seeing much more of you, and your fellow Chairman, in the period ahead of us.
I also welcome the Minister. I do so, I confess, in a state of some bemusement, because since Second Reading only last week, we have lost the former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who said:
“The role of a progressive Government should be to pass power to the people”.
She also said:
“I am returning...to political activism, to the cut and thrust of political debate.”
Goodness knows where she thought she had been for the last few years—including when she introduced the Bill last Monday. I wish her well; I was an admirer of her work on extremism.
I also wish well the right hon. Member for Wentworth (John Healey), who is now the Minister for Housing. I have sat opposite him many times on the Finance Bill Committee. He is a competent Minister and I shall miss him—I think. What I am about to say will do him no good, but I feel that he has been somewhat under-promoted. I welcome the right hon. Member for Doncaster, Central to the Committee. I hope she is not too disturbed by the Bill that she finds before her, but I know she will do her best to get it through Committee.
I also welcome the hon. Member for Portsmouth, North. I am sorry that I am a bit confused; they come and go so fast and it is hard to keep track. I also send my best wishes to the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan), who was a knowledgeable and expert cohesion Minister. I wish him well in his new duties. I also welcome the hon. Members for Falmouth and Camborne and for North Cornwall. The hon. Lady, at least, is a survivor of previous Finance Bills who has not fled the Committee.