Legal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am extremely grateful for the measured way in which the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, has brought back an issue that he feels extremely strongly about. I am enchanted by the concerns that noble Lords have for me, but worried that my powers of persuasion, particularly in the eyes of the noble Earl, Lord Onslow, are clearly not up to much if that were the situation that had arisen. I do not have any regrets about what I did. I will explain what I did and why. I do not accept the idea that, because of our discussions in Committee, noble Lords felt thatthey did not need or were unable to bring back amendments. I made it clear in my discussions with noble Lords between Committee and Report that I would not be bringing this amendment forward. I made that clear at Report, so there was always the opportunity to come back at this stage. The noble Lord shakes his head, but I recall that we had a discussion about possibilities in which this issue might be raised. Anyway, if noble Lords had felt that they had been misled, I would have been perfectly happyto see amendments today that addressed the issue. Indeed, we have the noble Lord’s amendment. I am quite sure what the outcome of this debate will be as a consequence. I will put my position as clearly as I can, because I like my reputation as a listening Minister and I believe that I take away and consider carefully everything that is said to me.