Penny Mordaunt (Portsmouth North, Conservative):
Which is the more pressing issue: the West Lothian question or House of Lords reform?
I do not think that it is an either/or choice. As the hon. Lady knows, there is a commitment in the coalition agreement to establish a commission to look into the West Lothian question, but I do not think that that precludes the Joint Committee looking at proposals for reform of the House of Lords at the same time.
Do the Government’s proposals for the House of Lords include excluding peers not from England on voting on matters solely related to England?
We have not addressed that in the White Paper. If people want to discuss it in the Joint Committee, they are free to do so.
Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire, Conservative):
On 5 April the Deputy Prime Minister said there was “a need to ensure” that reform of the other place did not “overlap” with the establishment of the West Lothian commission. Given that reform of the other place may take some time, can the Deputy Prime Minister reassure us that the West Lothian commission will be in place by the time of the Report stage and Third Reading of my private Member’s Bill on 9 September?
I can confirm that the commission that will look into the West Lothian question will be established this year.
If Clegg thought that both issues were equally important, then surely the Committee on the West Lothian Question would already be established (as it was supposed to be) and could inform the debate over the Lords. I can see no possible reason for delaying the Committee on the West Lothian Question other than Nick Clegg believing it to be unimportant or that it might preclude the desired outcome of his Lords Reform White Paper.