David Norris (Independent)

I also welcome the development this morning and it was not appropriate to call it a belated U-turn. We should be much more generous on this side of the House. We should welcome what the Leader and the Government have done. I had no difficulty with some of the main provisions of the Bill. The extension from five to ten years was reasonable and sensible. I objected to certain elements but my principal objection and most trenchant criticism concerned the way it was being handled. As a result of the strong debate in this House, the situation has been altered in a way that is very beneficial to the democratic operation of the House. I express my undiluted appreciation of what has been done here today.