the Government of the day and they defeated them. I think I hear the Lord President 306 muttering in his rage, and I can understand it. I would say this to the Prime Minister: The real trouble is that you simply cannot deal with this matter piecemeal. Everybody has always recognised that fact. The Parliament Act recognised it. The problems of composition and of powers are one. They cannot be kept apart. The only people who do not seem to realise that are the Government, who illogically complain about the composition of the House of Lords and then try to amend their powers. I myself do not think that this is a good time to tackle the problem because the Government ought to have their minds full trying to promote the national effort. They ought to have in mind the words of the Minister for Economic Affairs, who only the other day in this House told us: We shall find our way through to a brighter and more prosperous future all the quicker if we devote ourselves single mindedly to our country's interests." -- [ OFFICIAL REPORT, 23rd October, 1947; Vol. 443, c. 294. ] I think that is right. We will. If the Government want to attack this business, let them examine it in the spirit of what the Minister for Economic Affairs said. Let them set up a proper body for this purpose. This Measure -- and the Prime Minister knows it quite well -- does not really