Compensation Bill [Lords]

I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Minister on her introduction to the Bill. One of the great pleasures of being in this place is to be able to follow an expert speaker speaking with knowledge on a specialist subject. Unfortunately, one does not always get the opportunity to do that, and on this occasion I do not. The knowledge of the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) about the way in which trade union legal services work does not show hands-on experience. He seemed a little hazy about the real issue involved in the mesothelioma cases as well, although my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham) tried to put him right about that. I shall confine my remarks to part 2, which deals with claims management services. It is the Government’s intention, as my hon. Friend announced today, that the Secretary of State would be the regulator. That is, I think, intended only as a temporary expedient, and the Government’s long-term intention is that the mechanisms that form part of the new regulatory framework for legal services will encompass these arrangements as well. The Minister will correct me if I have got that wrong, but it seems to be the direction in which we are heading. That seems perfectly sensible. I want to deal with three aspects: regulation in controversial areas, which essentially means personal injury cases; trade unions, which I know something about; and the mesothelioma situation. I should declare my interest as a member of the GMB trade union. I was an official of the union before I was elected to Parliament, I maintain close connections with it, and I am proud of my long-standing relationship with it. Conservative Members have made much of the need to regulate unions, but the Minister made it clear that there will be a code of practice, and that if unions breach it they will lose their exemptions. In other words, if a union behaves like a claims farmer, it will be treated as such. As a Labour Member, I think that that is absolutely right, and I am pretty certain that my right hon. and hon. Friends agree with me.