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Part of Infrastructure Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:45 pm on 15 January 2015.

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Photo of Richard Burden Richard Burden Shadow Minister (Transport) 3:45, 15 January 2015

Gladstone was mentioned. Sorry, I forgot the Liberals—we do that quite often. We were able to mention Shakespeare and C.S. Lewis. Throughout this Committee I have been working out where I could work in references to Tom Paine and Gramsci. I did not manage it, but I have it on the record in these closing remarks.

The Committee has been conducted with good humour, for which I particularly thank the Minister. He has approached the debates both inside and outside this room with good humour and a genuine desire to involve Opposition Members. A number of commitments have been given that will strengthen the Bill. We still have reservations that will no doubt lead to Divisions on Report, but I think a number of our discussions will be taken away by the Minister, whom I thank for the courtesy that he has shown, even when being dumped upon by Ministers from other Departments into moving things that I suspect he would rather not have moved. Other Government Front Benchers have also shown great courtesy.

I thank my colleagues on the Opposition Front Bench for taking on board those aspects of the role that do not fall within my areas of responsibility. They have exercised great scrutiny of the Government’s proposals. I thank the Whips for keeping us in order. There was a frisson about the programme motion at the start, but we got there in the end. I thank all Members on both sides of the Committee. Their contributions have added wisdom to the Committee.

I thank the staff. The staff from the Departments never say anything, but they have to keep alert at all times to pass notes. Legislative debates could not happen without them. I also thank the staff on the Opposition side. They are not civil servants, but we rely on them to give us the briefings that enable us to exercise our responsibilities. I want to say thank you to them. I also thank the staff involved in recording and clerking proceedings. They deserve acknowledgment, and I gladly do so.

Finally, I thank the people who kept us in order throughout—you, Sir Roger, and Mr Hood. You have conducted the proceedings in an efficient and friendly way, and I would like to say thank you to you as well.