Compensation Bill [Lords]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we will take into account the position of the smaller companies, so that the decision is a balanced one. The new provisions on mesothelioma that we have added today will make a real difference to the claimants and their families who are suffering as a result of that horrible disease. This is one of those times in Parliament when Members in all parts of the House can be justly proud of the fact that we have made serious changes to a Bill that will directly affect people in a positive way. Politicians sometimes get a bad reputation—often through their own fault—but on this occasion I am pleased that Members in all parts of the House have been supportive in ensuring that these amendments have been added to the Bill, and I am proud that they have been included. We will continue to work with others on this area. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will shortly bring other matters relating to it before the House, and we will ensure that the victims obtain their compensation as quickly and as easily as possible. I thank colleagues in all parts of the House for the constructive spirit in which they have debated the Bill. There are a number of hon. Friends to whom thanks are due, but I hope that they will not mind if I say that I thank in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham), who has worked assiduously on this issue. I am pleased that we have gone some way towards realising his demands on behalf of the victims of this terrible disease. I also thank both Chairmen of the Standing Committee and all its members, and Members from all parts of the House who have contributed to what has been a thorough and useful examination of this important Bill. I thank in particular the hon. Members for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) and for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), as well as the other Members who have made a valuable contribution to our debate. I also thank the organisations that have helped us to put the Bill together, such as the Association of British Insurers, the TUC, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, the various voluntary and other organisations that have been helpful, and of course my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Ashton, in whose name this Bill stands. I also thank the officials and parliamentary counsel, who deserve a particular vote of gratitude from the House for having been able, in the end, to get the mesothelioma amendments together in such a way that they were acceptable, so that we could debate them today, and so that we can make them law before the end of this parliamentary Session. I commend the Bill to the House.