Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I shall be moving Amendment No. 72A, an amendment to Amendment No. 72, which is later in the Marshalled List, on page 9. It has been grouped with the amendment that the noble Lord, Lord Thomas, has spoken to. That is a rather odd grouping, if I am to be allowed to develop the nature of my amendment. In substance, my amendment is aimed at restoring the position in the Bill when it...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, my preference would be to degroup it because of its incongruity with the scope of the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Thomas. I would like to consider at a later stage the amendment standing in my name.
Lord Neill of Bladen: I add a brief word of support for the amendment. One can hardly listen without pity to the account that we have been hearing and without regret that such scenes are taking place in our country. It is more like a passage from Dostoevsky than something that should happen to our children.
Lord Neill of Bladen: moved Amendment No. 13: Clause 212, page 120, line 5, at end insert "provided always that no order may be made by the Lord Chancellor bringing into force Part 5 of this Act and the related Schedules 10 to 14 until after— (a) consideration by both Houses of Parliament of a comprehensive report to be commissioned by the Lord Chancellor from an independent source analyzing—(i) the advantages...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I wish to speak to Amendment No. 13 which stands in my name and touches on access to justice. Noble Lords will recall that lying behind the proposal is the fear that some of the new business structures will be powerful economic players. I am thinking in particular of larger, better-resourced firms of solicitors, possibly amalgamated with other professions, which will in effect wipe...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I thank the Minister for the courteous welcome that she gave to what I said and for showing that she agreed with a high percentage of my observations, although not the final conclusion as to what should happen. I tend to be an optimist. I believe that she is going to find it hard in the days that follow to resist the combined oratory of myself and my noble friends as it works on her...
Lord Neill of Bladen: moved Amendment No. 637A: Clause 201, page 110, line 39, at end insert "provided always that no order may be made by the Secretary of State bringing into force Part 5 of this Act and the related Schedules 10 to 14 until after— (a) consideration by both Houses of Parliament of a comprehensive report to be commissioned by the Lord Chancellor from an independent source analyzing—(i) the...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I declare an interest as a practising member of the Bar, a former member of the Bar Council and sometime chairman of the Bar. This is a plea by me with support from other Members of the House that we should be told more by Government about Part 5 and about alternative business structures before we allow it to be put into operation or before we allow the Legal Services Board to take...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I have spoken on previous occasions on this issue, and I have made clear my view that this is a thoroughly unjust provision and that the amendment is right. I have a specific question for the Minister. There is the usual certificate on the back of the Bill that all its provisions are in accordance with the Human Rights Act. Has some Minister actually considered that, if there are...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, does the power the Minister cited enable the police to close off an area that is part of this scheme?
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I add my voice to those who support the amendment. We live in a violent society. We have daily, or certainly weekly, reminders of the terrible use of violence to kill or wound people. The use of knives is one method, and brute force is another. People are dragged to the ground by a gang and kicked to death. Guns are a frequent method of inflicting death. That violence involves,...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, reference has been made to an amendment that I tabled, with the subsequent backing of other Members of the House, which is a long way down the batting list at No. 637A. Those who followed our debate in Committee may recall that I spoke about Part 5. I do not think that the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, was there, but I picked up from what he had said earlier a worry, from a consumer...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, one thing that I learnt at the Bar was to keep your reply short, otherwise your case usually gets worse. I am almost embarrassed, and I am certainly humbled, by the cloud of witnesses who have appeared on my side. A former Law Lord, a former Lord Chancellor, a former Lord Chief Justice and many colleagues at the Bar have rallied to my cause. The noble Lord, Lord Whitty, was an...
Lord Neill of Bladen: moved Amendment No. 7: Schedule 1 , page 112, line 6, at end insert "with the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice"
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I am not tongue-tied—I thought it better to allow a short period for Members of the House to withdraw. In moving the amendment, I make the normal declarations of interest I have made on previous occasions. I am a practising member of the Bar, in my time I served on the Bar Council and I was chairman of the Bar. I also served on the Joint Committee that looked at the Bill, and I...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, like the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Norton of Louth, on bringing this debate before the House. The issue of whether there should be a statutory basis for Cabinet-appointed committees is discussed over the dinner table and in such contexts, but to my knowledge it has never been debated on the Floor of this House. The noble Lord, Lord Norton,...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, I add to what the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, said, in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, and Transparency International on their initiative. It is a matter for regret that it has been left to private initiative to move forward in this absolutely vital area. Anybody with any experience of international contracts and their performance around the world would have found, time...
Lord Neill of Bladen: My Lords, that is a very difficult act to follow. The noble Lord, Lord Grocott, if he would desist for one minute from his conversation, said some 25 hours ago: "I recommend to the House ... that it would greatly assist the speed of the debate if Members did not deploy arguments that had previously been made".—[ Official Report, 12/3/07; col. 451.] He recognised that that was a principle...
Lord Neill of Bladen: I thank those who have lent support to what I have said, from which I received encouragement. I am grateful to the Minister for the courteous way in which she received my proposal, although she will not be surprised if I am not bowled over by the closing five minutes of her remarks. In effect, she does not accept what I propose. The idea that I, and perhaps the Library, see the legislation...
Lord Neill of Bladen: I am grateful. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
