to the House of Lords to get them thrown out in order to make a case in the country. But we, on the contrary, instead of waiting to have a controversy with the House of Lords, have tried to prevent any constitutional difficulty by meeting the matter before it arises. The obvious thing, if we had wanted to stage the thing for electoral ends, would have been to create a first-class row on something or other, and to have gone to the country with the cry of Lords against the Commons. If hon. Members opposite do not want to have a constitutional controversy, all they have got to say is that this is a very simple little amendment, and they accept it. The fact of the matter is that they have not made up their minds what to do. This is only an example of up-to-date wisdom of dealing with matters. We do not wait today for a disease to break out, but try to cure it in advance. I know that hon. Members say "Ah, you have had no trouble for two years." [An HON. MEMBER: "For 36 years."] Really, the hon. Member who made that interjection does not do himself justice, because he knows perfectly well that, except for two brief 311 intervals, for 36 years there has always been a majority in this House of a Conservative complexion. That is why the matter has never arisen, and this is the first time that it was likely to