House of Lords (Members’ Taxation Status) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am rather aghast at the moment. I assumed that the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, would not change his spots and that he would probably be naming and shaming many Peers. I had planned to do a Conrad Russell and move a Motion that the noble Lord should be no longer heard. I am now rather disappointed. I notice that many on the Liberal Benches were not here for Prayers, when we set aside prejudice and partial affections. We saw a few prejudices just now from the noble Lord, Lord Lea of Crondall, whom I fully admire. I am happy to say that I am slightly older than him. I have been in the House longer than all four Liberal speakers put together—theirs is the new boys’ Bench. I wonder why the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, has advanced this Bill. When he first mentioned some of the problems, I spoke with him and wrote him a friendly letter and we had a glass of wine together. I recall that he announced that he paid a six-figure sum in tax every year, and I wanted to know what it was. Under the Freedom of Information Act, I thought, having seen this Bill, that I would ask HMRC whether it could provide the information. My friend at HMRC said that of course it could not provide or publish such information. What are we talking about here? We are talking about the Liberal party wanting to attack the other parties in order to promote themselves.