COMMENCEMENT (No. 2)

Part of Orders of the Day — Referendums Bill – in the House of Commons at 1:45 pm on 21 May 1999.

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Photo of Andrew Miller Andrew Miller Labour, Ellesmere Port and Neston 1:45, 21 May 1999

That is a perfectly sensible point and it is my duty to explain it to the House. Due to the filibustering of the Opposition, I have not had the chance to do so. The Bill gives the Secretary of State the power to trigger the Bill if, hypothetically, the Government decided on a referendum on the abolition of Blaby or anything else. That is the insurance policy that the hon. Gentleman requires. If there is no referendum between now and the enactment of the Bill, without the new clause, we shall have set up a body that is superfluous to requirements at public cost, wasting taxpayer's money. The new clause would enable the hon. Member for Blaby to have his insurance policy without the potential waste of public money that would result from his having purchased that insurance policy earlier than necessary.