Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 3:43 pm on 9 May 2001.
Few parliamentary ends were more evidence of that than the end of the last Parliament.
Although it ran until the last possible date, at the close of the Session it was necessary for the Government to deal with some 16 pieces of legislation—substantially more than we shall need to deal with this time.
It is, I fear, a feature of our system that it is always necessary to deal with things in this way. I reject the suggestion that we are attempting to steamroller legislation through —we are allowing time for proper consideration—although I share the hon. Gentleman's regret about the