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

I intervened only because the noble Lord—I have forgotten his name—actually called me an Earl. That was why I intervened quietly, just to say I was not an Earl. I have been concerned and I should like the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, to respond to my first questions. Did he make those statements that appeared in the newspapers, or did he not? Who was he accusing? There is a bit of confusion here. My amendment does not affect most of his Bill, it simply states: ""Any Member introduced into the House after the passing of this Act shall be a British citizen"." So we should not exclude those. The list is only there because there was no one in the Foreign Office or anywhere else who could tell me what the list should be, because the Government do not have lists. This list is correct and I wanted to put it in the Bill—this is the point—so that those who were British subjects would not feel automatically if all these changes took place that they could not come here. I would have added Members of the House of Commons and elected members of local authorities, because the same principle—that if you make laws in this country you should pay tax in this country—is generally accepted. Perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Oakeshott, would answer my questions about his statements, because accusations and cross-accusations have triggered this slightly heated debate.