Clause 56 - Specified considerations
Enterprise Bill
6:30 pm
Mr Harry Barnes (North East Derbyshire, Labour)
What worries the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire because it is a faint possibility worries me because it does not clearly specify that the public interest should be considered. I pursued the public interest argument when we debated amendments Nos. 126 and 129 in our seventh sitting. That is why I did not move amendment No. 262, which was tabled in my name. It would have applied the public interest consideration to the Secretary of State, whereas the previous amendment would have applied it to the OFT. Both of those are especially important given the points made by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary on clause 43. I shall follow that argument very carefully, but that is why I felt that I should not move my amendment at that particular time. Nevertheless, I still have a great deal of interest in the public interest.