Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I warmly welcome these reforms. I declare an interest as a former Civil Service Minister and underpin the remarks that have been made. Does the Minister appreciate the importance of recognising the integrity, independence and impartiality of our Civil Service, while embracing the need for further education and training?
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I declare my interests, set out in the register, as chair of the Lending Standards Board and the Press Complaints Commission, as well as being a practising solicitor and partner in the global commercial law firm DAC Beachcroft for nearly 45 years. The Bill establishes a new framework for financial regulation in the United Kingdom. I share the determination of colleagues to improve...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I thank the Minister and declare my interest as a partner in the international commercial law firm, DAC Beachcroft LLP, and my other interests in the register. I warmly applaud the coalition Government's intention to ban referral fees in personal injury cases. The amendments establish greater clarity around the operation of the ban on referral fees to ensure that there must be no...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, in speaking to Amendments 146A and 148A, I wish to say how strongly I support in principle the Government's proposal to ban referral fees. I declare my interest as a partner in DAC Beachcroft, the international commercial law firm. My amendments are intended simply to clear up some possible loopholes. Having just heard the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, I caution how...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I shall speak to Amendments 166A and 166B, standing in my name on the Marshalled List, and to declare my interest as a partner for 44 years in the international commercial legal firm DAC Beachcroft LLP, and the other interests contained in the register. This gives me an opportunity to respond to one or two comments in the earlier debate. In this important group of amendments we need...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I declare my interest as a partner in the international commercial law firm DAC Beachcroft LLP and the other interests that I declare in the register. However, I would like to return to the speech of my noble friend Lord Thomas of Gresford, with whom I have previously worked. How right he is to criticise the changes that were introduced to the no-win no-fee system which made it...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, while declaring an interest as deputy president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, I warmly applaud my noble friend's commitment to the way in which we have restored at long last accident prevention as one of those key objectives. Will he please do a little more by setting the agenda on the right way forward to stop the sort of problem just referred to by the...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I declare an interest as a practising solicitor and partner for more than 40 years in the international commercial law firm Beachcroft. This debate gives me a wonderful opportunity, first, to thank my noble friend Lord Bridgeman for having introduced such an important subject, and also to support my chairman on Sub-Committee G and say to my noble friend Lady Young of Hornsey that I...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, no one will be surprised if I say how important I believe this debate is and how warmly I pay tribute to the Chairman of Committees and to the Procedure Committee for bringing forward the subject on which there has always been extensive debate, but very little decision. I say to my noble friend Lord Elton that I have been enjoying myself reading through back copies of Hansard from...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I understand that no amendments have been set down to this Bill and that no noble Lord has indicated a wish to move a manuscript amendment or to speak in Committee. Therefore, unless any noble Lord objects, I beg to move that the order of commitment be discharged. Motion agreed.
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I thank everyone who has contributed to this debate, which has greatly enhanced the reputation of this House as the Chamber in which we can hear from experts in their field. Certainly, my noble friend Lord Marks of Henley on Thames is widely respected outside this House for the depth and width of his expertise in this area. I thank him the points that he made today, and I was...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I declare an interest as a partner in the international commercial law firm Beachcroft LLP and the other interests recorded in the register. First, I pay tribute to the Law Commission. The Law Commission was, in fact, created by the Law Commissions Act 1965, which was the year that I joined my present firm. It is a body, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Justice, whose task...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, what a remarkable performance. I enjoyed the 14-minute speech by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Norwood Green, for a number of reasons, but first, I join him in paying tribute to Richard Hooper and say what a remarkable job he has done for Royal Mail. We were all thrilled when he was present at the Oscar ceremony when his son Tom won the best director award, one of the many awards...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, we have heard a brilliant maiden speech. Comparatively few of us follow in the steps of the great people of the past in creating phrases that become quoted and are everyday phrases in our lives, such as those coined by my noble friend. I was thinking: "You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment". However, I know that we are all thinking what an outstanding speech...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, will my noble friend accept from a former Cabinet Minister for Science and Technology how much she and her colleagues are to be congratulated on what is a strong settlement? Will she also recognise that on all sides of this House there is a positive commitment to the importance of the science budget? Can she share with us the figure for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I rise just to respond to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton-it is a brief point. Life is always difficult in opposition, particularly when one has been in government for so long. I underwent 13 years of opposition and recall that I could have resorted to procedural devices on many occasions. It is no use the noble and learned Lord shouting from a sedentary position.
Lord Hunt of Wirral: I want to know who is the uncle. All I will say is that we have suddenly begun to embark on a number of procedural debates. That is all well and good, and it is part of the tradition of the House that we should do so. However, I question whether we need to explore the uncertain waters of hybridity, and whether we should ignore 99 years of tradition by questioning a money Bill. Now when we...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, it is my privilege to pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Faulks for what I believe to have been one of the best maiden speeches that we have heard in this Chamber. Not only is my noble friend known as a supreme advocate but also he has a fine balance in his attitude towards right and wrong, which we heard in his reference to the Human Rights Act. He is also a foremost barrister. He...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for giving us this opportunity to debate a vital subject, and I should like to spend a few moments explaining why it is important. Like my noble friend Lady Scott of Needham Market, I and the other members of the Leader's Group, all of whom are now present in the Chamber, are here primarily to listen. We shall meet...
Lord Hunt of Wirral: The best and most direct answer to my noble friend on his two questions is that we will obviously report with our recommendations. If legislation were required, it would have to be debated in this Chamber and eventually have to go to the Sovereign for Royal Assent. I sense that there is a wish to try to find a solution. If we can find that solution, we should take steps to bring it into force...
