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

My Lords, we are drifting slightly off the point. I do not know how up to date the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, is, but Chelsea Football Club is up for sale and Mr Abramovich is trying to get out. He has fallen on rather hard times, I am afraid. Turning to the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, I am bound to say that from the previous time I introduced the Bill in this form and from the encouragement I received, we have moved to a more sceptical position. He and other noble Lords said that it did not find favour last time round. It is not a question of that; it ran out of time. There was only one vote on it, which we won, so that was not a fair comment. We are now trying to proceed with the Bill and have started much earlier in the Session. The noble Lord teased me about my voting record. I am not at the top of the Liberal Democrat list. He might say that I would be in relegation trouble, but if I were a Conservative Peer, I would be right up in the Premier League with that voting record. The key words I heard in the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Strathclyde, were that if you were a Peer, you should pay British tax. He did not say you should pay all British taxes; he said that you should pay British tax. That could mean pennies, or a bit of VAT. Whether or not it means all British tax is a very important issue. I invite the noble Lord, if he does not agree, to stand up.