for "consequential amendments of a small, minor and insignificant kind", although they have been used subsequently to implement EC legislation that has made substantial changes to UK law. An article in The Guardian compared the Bill to the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, saying that the Bill was presented as modernising measure but actually gave ministers arbitrary powers, taking "another chunk out of our centuries-old democracy". An article published in The Independent in June 2006 that analysed the last nine years of legal reform attacked the Prime Minister and his Government, claiming that the numerous changes and laws passed since it has been in power have reduced the power of democracy in the UK; the Bill was one example the journalist gave of the kinds of methods being employed to do this. After the Bill completed its committee stage in the House of Commons, it was reported that the House of Commons Procedure Committee had complained that the Bill "tips the balance between the executive and Parliament too far in the Government's favour". A second report published by the House of Commons Select Committee on Public Administration on 20 April 2006 stated that, "As currently drafted, the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill gives the Government powers which are entirely disproportionate to its stated aims." In May 2006, the House of Lords Constitution Select Committee published a report which drew attention to a number of issues. The report criticised the manner in which the bill was introduced, commenting that the consultative process was "lamentable", that the bill was not debated on the floor of the House of Commons, as is long accepted practice for bills of first class constitutional importance, and that the late amendments, while welcome, were "something of an indictment of the processes of policy-making and legislation". The report also noted a repetition of the delegation of "unprecedentedly wide power" to ministers, as the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 was described in December 2000; and the further ability for ministers to change legislation to implement recommendations of the Law Commission. The report concluded that the bill, after amendment, was more balanced than before, but remained "over-broad and vaguely drawn", and further safeguards were necessary. Support The government minister responsible, Jim Murphy, said, in winding up the debate on Second Reading on 9 February 2006: "I give the House clear undertakings, which I shall repeat in Committee, that the orders will not