Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 4:15 pm on 10 March 2005.
Both the sunset clause and the device proposed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State could achieve the same end. I concede that, but the disadvantage of a sunset clause is that it is absolute; it will fall at a certain time. The Opposition wanted, as a first foot forward, a six-month period until November. That was absolutely absurd in terms of our parliamentary timetable, even with the amount of days on which the House will be sitting before November. Even on March, it would impose an arbitrary timetable.
In my judgment, the step-by-step approach that my right hon. Friend has reasonably proposed achieves the same end in a far more acceptable way. This will separate the sheep from the goats. It will certainly separate those whose motives are to embarrass the Government from those—[Interruption.]