Housing and Regeneration Bill

I share the curiosity of the noble Lord, Lord Greaves. Some years ago, when my wife and I were in Sri Lanka, there was a hotel which had been run by the Dutch for well over 200 years. My wife asked whether she could see the literature advising potential clients of the facilities at the hotel and was given what appeared to be a cricket fixture card. It stated the name of the hotel, which was the New and Oriental Hotel, on the front cover. On the inside page, in the bottom right-hand corner of what I think is known as the centrefold—there were only two pages—was a notice saying, ““Prices may be secured on application to the management””. However, the best sentence of all was the one just inside the second page which started with the words, ““The New and Oriental Hotel is neither new nor oriental””. I anticipate the Minister’s response with some curiosity. His fellow Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, has alluded to changes in references to the Treasury that are now contained in all legislation. The noble Lord, Lord Howarth of Newport, is, again, unusually not in his place on this occasion, but it looks as though we may be looking at a new form of legislative architecture—a fashion trend within the Government towards minimalism in legislation. I have no problems at all with the nature of it—it may well be a good thing—but I think it is better that it happens with an explanation from the Government rather than by sleight of hand.