Sir Julian Lewis: I hate to strike a discordant note with my right hon. Friend as he and I have fought shoulder to shoulder in many battles, but is it not an illustration of the Pandora’s box one might be opening to consider what the situation would be if all these people turned up at the same time? I doubt very much that the upper Chamber would be capable of handling it, which then leads us to the question of how to reduce the numbers to a manageable proportion. So my right hon. Friend is getting into difficult waters with all of this; he had better be careful what he wishes for in getting all these people to converge on the House of Lords at once.

[Sir Gavin Williamson: My right hon. Friend and I agree on so many things, but perhaps I am just wanting to see this change happen. By adding new clause 4 – introducing Labour’s manifesto commitment as part of this Bill – we can significantly reduce the size of the upper House and avoid the kind of intimate crush that he sets out.]

[For Julian's speech in this debate click here.]