Compensation Bill [Lords]

We welcome new clause 13, which will overturn the recent judgment in Barker v. Corus. We are dealing here with a matter of public interest. It is important to recognise that the Government took the case to the House of Lords as a test case. It is more than odd, therefore, that although the judgment was delivered in May 2006 the Government are now introducing emergency legislation to overturn what they argued for in court as recently as six weeks ago. The Minister rightly says that Miss Barker brought one of the cases and that another applicant—plaintiff—brought another case against companies that are now under the umbrella of British Shipbuilders, a statutory corporation that is owned entirely by the Government and sponsored by the Department of Trade and Industry. Therefore, a Minister in that Department agreed to the Government taking the case all the way up to the House of Lords to establish something that now—just a few weeks later—they think is so unpalatable that they must introduce emergency legislation. The solicitor who acted for British Shipbuilders has written to me making the point that this is a matter of public interest. The public are entitled to know the identity of the DTI Minister who made that decision, how much the Government have spent on these cases that have gone through all the courts up to the House of Lords, and whether the decision made in the House of Lords will now be overturned. Will Miss Barker get her costs, and what exactly was going on, because this is not an advert for joined-up government?