Amendments made: 325, page 4, line 4, leave out paragraphs (a) and (b) and insert

'has the meaning given by paragraph 1A of Schedule 1;'.

Amendment 161, page 4, line 8, at end insert-

'"enactment" includes-

(a) any provision of an Act,(b) any provision of, or of any instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament,(c) any provision of, or of any instrument made under, Northern Ireland legislation, and(d) any provision of subordinate legislation (within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1978);'.

Amendment 326, page 4, leave out lines 19 to 22 and insert-

'(2) Each of the following, as it exists on the day of the referendum, is a "voting area" for the purposes of this Part-

(a) a district in England for which there is a district council;

(b) a county in England in which there are no districts with councils;

(c) a London borough;

(d) the City of London (including the Inner and Middle Temples);

(e) the Isles of Scilly;

(f) a constituency for the National Assembly for Wales;

(g) a constituency for the Scottish Parliament;

(h) Northern Ireland.'.- (Mr Harper.)

Clause 5, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.

The First Deputy Chairman:

We now come to Clause 6.

On a point of order, Mr Evans. On Clause 6, the Minister indicated to the Committee earlier that he intends to adopt Amendment 3, which stands in my name, as a Government amendment, so that it can be voted upon at this stage in the proceedings. I have made no objection to the Minister's suggestion, because it is the Government's right to have a vote if they so wish, and I have every confidence that, in whatever circumstances, the Government would win the vote on that amendment and the other amendments in the group. I have no objection to there being a vote. However, the Committee must take note that it is not the vote that matters, but the fact that seven amendments have not been discussed. My purpose in tabling amendment 3 was not to win a vote or to change the Government's mind, but to ensure that the Committee had an opportunity to discuss the very important issue of thresholds in the forthcoming referendum.

Further to that point of order, Mr Evans. Two things arise from that point of order. First, it is normally the convention in this House that the vote follows the voice, so if the Government adopt Amendment 3, does that mean that they will support it? Secondly, I hope that what is proposed is not a mechanism to meet the letter but not the spirit of the Government's undertaking that all important elements of the Bill will be debated seriously. The threshold for the referendum to be carried is the most important component of the Bill, so we need to know from the Government whether they intend to provide us with time to debate it properly at a later stage.

Further to that point of order, Mr Evans. I completely endorse what my right hon. Friend has just said, because I, too, have an Amendment down in my name and that of several other hon. Members-amendment 45-but we have had no opportunity to discuss it. In the light of the proposal for the Government to adopt amendment 3, merely for the sake of a vote, but without discussion, I would strongly presume-indeed, hope-that there would be an opportunity to debate the matter properly on Report. There are other amendments affected, such as amendments 45 and 64, standing in the name of my hon. Friend Mr Chope, so what is proposed would be completely inappropriate, in light of the fact that, for example, the threshold for the Scottish devolution arrangements in 1979 led to a substantial constitutional crisis. I would therefore simply ask you, Mr Evans, to ensure that the Government are made well aware of our wish to have a proper debate on the matter on Report.

Several hon. Members:

rose -

The First Deputy Chairman:

Order. I intend to call Mr Chope, Mr Bryant and the Minister, and then that is it, and we will have fully exhausted the point of order.

Further to that point of order, Mr Evans. In discussing the programme motion on 12 October, the Parliamentary Secretary said that

"we have taken steps...in the programme motion" to ensure that

"the House will be able to debate and vote on the key issues raised by the Bill."-[ Hansard, 12 October 2010; Vol. 516, c. 183.]

On Second Reading he also made it quite clear that we would have the opportunity to debate and vote on the key issues. Nobody is suggesting that the threshold is anything other than a key issue in the Bill. Even at this late stage, it is open to the Minister to tell the Committee that he will come forward tomorrow with an Amendment to the programme order to ensure that we can start the business tomorrow with a debate on Clause 6, rather than closing down debate on that clause, which seems to be the Government's intent. I should also point out that unless we have a debate, it will not be possible for the Committee to take a view on the relative merits of amendment 3 as compared with my amendments 64, 65 and 66. In the European debate the other night the Chair was able to decide which amendments were more worthy of being put to the vote on the basis of the debate. Without a debate, we will not be able to do that.

Further to that point of order, Mr Evans. Several hon. Members have made the point this evening that there has not been time to debate significant elements of the Bill. In addition, the Government have today tabled 100 pages of amendments to the Bill, which they have proposed we debate next Monday, but they have already said that those amendments are incorrect and will have to be superseded by further amendments. At the moment, only two days are provided for Report. I would therefore ask the Government to consider providing a third day on Report, so that the issues can be fully debated. Otherwise, I am sure that their lordships would want to spend a considerable period of time looking at the legislation properly. Finally, Mr Davis rightly pointed out that votes normally follow voices in this House. That is to say that Members who shout aye have to vote aye, and if the Minister is going to shout aye in a moment, he should be voting in the Aye Lobby.

Further to that point of order, Mr Evans. If the hon. Member for Rhondda genuinely thought that this was the most important part of the Bill, he should have thought about that when he moved some of his less important amendments today. That was a time-wasting exercise and nothing else.

I gave a clear commitment on Second Reading that the Government would do everything within their power to ensure that we had a debate and a vote on all the key issues of the Bill. We provided extra time in the programme motion last week. Reaching a point in the debate, of course, requires Members to exercise some discipline, which they were incapable of doing today. What is left within my power is to propose Amendment 3 to enable the Committee to vote on it, but I ask my colleagues to vote against it. I want to facilitate the opportunity for this Committee to vote.

The First Deputy Chairman:

I have listened carefully to the several points of order that Members have made. What the Government propose is orderly under Standing Order No. 83D(2), although it is, as some hon. Members have observed, somewhat unusual. I am sure that hon. Members will also have noted the opportunities open to them, as has been remarked, on Report. I should just remind Members of the rule on voice and vote. It is possible to vote against one's own Amendment, but one cannot shout "Aye" and then vote "No". We now move on to Clause 6.