Compensation Bill [Lords]

Let me deal with that point. The right hon. Gentleman may not be aware that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) has mentioned before, a deal was done with the Union of Democratic Mineworkers, which had a separate arrangement. It was not offered to other trade unions in the industry, though it was offered later when some trade unions had abandoned their in-house legal services. Consequently, certain areas of the NUM went into an arrangement with solicitors whereby a payment would be passed from them back to the NUM on the basis that a form of authority would first be completed. I would have thought that, in that context, the onus was on the solicitor acting for the trade union to advise the client that he could go down the street to a firm of solicitors that would not charge him. The fact that the solicitors did not do that makes them culpable. It is not the trade union, but the solicitors who are at fault. We must also understand the reason why the problem came about. It happened, as I said, because of preferential treatment being given to some miners unions and not to others. Moving on to part 2, its purpose is to bring some form of regulation to claims farmers. Where the claimant has a relationship with a trade union, we have been able to ensure that the Law Society acts for them. I have referred many complaints to the Law Society, most of which were dealt with, bringing redress to claimants who could claim back the money held by law firms to pay for the services provided by the claims farmer. I continue to hold to my point that there is a clear distinction between the trade unions and claims farmers. One or two trade unions may not have provided the service that they should have, but that should not be used to tarnish the whole trade union movement. In my estimation, the trade union movement has been a force for good. I now come on to the Barker case and the Minister’s comments about it. It is essential to overturn the Barker judgment and to go back to the law as established in the Fairchild case. In that case, it was clearly established that the responsible employer or insurer had to pay full damages to claimants suffering from exposure to asbestos and mesothelioma. I believe that we must return to that principle and hope that the Minister will table a Government amendment in Committee to achieve it. There has been a marked increase in mesothelioma claims over the last 40 years. For example, in 1966, there were just 153 claimants; today, there are almost 2,000 diagnoses of mesothelioma cancer each year, and the prediction is that the number will increase. The Health and Safety Executive’s latest projection is that it is likely to peak in about 2015, reach a plateau and then taper away by 2050. However, one authority—an investigative journalist, a man by the name of Peter Martin, who wrote an article in The Sunday Times Magazine of 16 May 2004—has estimated from his research that 186,000 deaths are likely between 2000 and 2050, as a result of exposure to asbestos. So it is essential that we return to the law as set by the Fairchild ruling. A little earlier in an intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Central (Tony Lloyd), I referred to the fact that, under the Barker decision, people could not make a claim under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979, and I did so because of a legal opinion that I received by e-mail from a QC by the name of Allan Gore, who practises at 12 King’s Bench Walk. I shall read the pertinent part for the Minister:"““In Barker no answer is offered to the question. But if fair in Fairchild, why is it not fair now? Surely the answer cannot simply depend on what was argued in each case? Victims will now obtain only partial damages in many cases. This leaves cases outside the 1979 Act so that safety net is not available.””" That is why I have referred to the fact that redress under the 1979 Act would not be available, but the Minister has been advised that it would be available. I have no doubt that the Government could say that redress is available under the 1979 Act for claimants to make such claims, but I can understand the logic that has decided that the 1979 Act is not available for that purpose. One of the planks of the Barker decision was that, if people were unable to identify one of the employers for whom they worked, their damages would be reduced accordingly. The 1979 Act provides for claims to be made where an employer has either gone out of business or cannot be traced, or there is no insurer. So it logically follows that, given the Barker decision, there could be no claim under the 1979 Act. If that is the legal decision, the Government must ensure that the route to redress under the 1979 Act stays open. Overall, this is a good Bill. It will deal effectively with claims farmers and allow us to introduce some regulation and order, and by doing so, we will avoid people being exploited in the way that they have been exploited in mining communities.