I join the welcome given to your chairmanship, Mr. Hughes. My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch referred to the absence of the nationalist parties from this Committee, but I did not understand his point, because he and I were recently members of the Committee on the Railways Bill to which a nationalist Member had been appointed, and apart from one brief appearance he did not bother to turn up. It does not make much difference whether nationalist Members are nominated to serve in Committee.

The programme motion is not needed, and I rise to register my objection to it. We have on this Committee two experienced Whips, and having had experience of the Government Whip and my hon. Friend the Member for Spelthorne (Mr. Wilshire) on other Committees, I have found that they are fair, professional and experienced, and can well deal with business matters through the usual channels without the necessity of this motion.

I know that Government Members sometimes get bored and irritated by the Opposition regularly opposing programme motions on the Floor of the House. Perhaps it is appropriate that I explain why I join my colleagues in voting against such motions and why I am not happy to see this programme motion today. As you will know, Mr. Hughes, during the term of the previous Conservative Government I was the Government deputy Chief Whip, and the time came when we decided that some changes were necessary to our procedures. We asked a team of people to examine them, and the Jopling report was produced. I was asked to see the then Prime Minister, John Major, who made it quite clear that he wanted to implement the report, but gave me clear instructions that no part of the report was to be implemented unless it had the consent of the then Labour Opposition. I then embarked on discussions with Don Dixon, now Lord Dixon, who was at that time Labour's deputy Chief Whip, and over a period of months we agreed what parts of the Jopling reforms would be acceptable to the Opposition. Only the acceptable parts were implemented.

The problem with programme motions, and the reason that Government Members must go through the Lobbies week after week to support them while we oppose them, is that the current regime has been imposed without consent. I think it was the now Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who introduced those provisions, and they did not have the consent of the Opposition. It is right and proper that we continue to register our objection to a system on which we have not been consulted and that we do not agree with.