Eric Pickles has hailed the Government's flagship Localism Bill as a "triumph for democracy over bureaucracy" but was forced to defend the number of new powers the legislation will hand to him. He said it would shift power away from Whitehall and back to individuals, communities and councils. But Labour denounced the Bill as a "sham". Shadow communities secretary Caroline Flint said "This is a Bill that empowers one person - the Secretary of State." Labour's Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) asked: "If this is all about giving away powers from Whitehall, could you explain why in this Bill there will be 126 new powers transferred to yourself?" Mr Pickles said: "I have politely pointed out that in previous Bills, much smaller Bills, the proportion of delegated legislation was much higher when the Labour Party was running these matters." And he insisted: "The numbers contained within this Bill are entirely the norm, entirely the way in which our legislation has been put together and with one important difference - this is a deregulating Bill." The Bill has gained its second reading by 329 votes to 227 - a government majority of 102. Read more on 24dash.
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