Compensation Bill [Lords]

I rise to speak to new clause 10, which stands in my name. I have no objection to claims handlers being regulated. Indeed, I first started campaigning for that almost 20 years ago, when handlers were first invented, as I recognised that this could be a growing problem. However, I approach the matter from a very different point of view from that of my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann). Perhaps he should come along to the Chamber on a Friday, given the way in which he set out his case in such detail earlier. I hope to be able to put my case, from a different point of view, rather more briefly. Trade unions have had a rather bad deal out of this debate so far. There has been no problem with trade union legal schemes for decades. Most of them date back to before the second world war, and trade unions have historically played a major role in ensuring that people who were injured at work got justice and compensation—for example, under the old workmen’s compensation scheme, before they had common law claims. My hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw has clearly had a very bad experience arising out of the administration of one particular scheme. However, we must not throw the baby out with the bathwater by losing sight of all the excellent work that the trade unions have done for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people over the years in which the trade union schemes have been in operation. Historically, trade unions have fought difficult, ground-breaking cases, often with contributions from successful cases, in perfectly legitimate schemes. That kind of scheme was starting to die out when I was in practice; very few unions still operated them by then. However, the trade union schemes and the contributions involved were operated for the benefit of the members. They were not operated for profit. They were used to support difficult, complicated, and often expensive cases. I ran many test cases myself when I was in practice, including some of the early cases involving post-traumatic stress disorder and pension loss. Some cases went to the House of Lords. I remember one in particular, against the Home Secretary in the then Conservative Government, which ended up in the House of Lords. It involved cuts in the criminal injuries compensation scheme, and it was backed by a consortium of about a dozen trade unions and involved several hundred thousand pounds worth of costs. Schemes covering vibration white finger, pneumoconiosis and deafness were all developed with the support of the trade unions, and I believe that we now run the risk of losing sight of the very good work that they have done.