Perpetuities and Accumulations Bill [HL]

As my noble friend Lord Bach and the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, reminded us, today we are makers of history for various reasons which they elicited, but, most particularly, because we are participating in the new procedure to expedite Law Commission Bills. If that is not the sole topic of conversation in the village where I live, at least we will have something to relate on future winter evenings. For much too long, the excellent work of the Law Commission has gathered dust on remote shelves because the business managers of successive Governments have found more pressing work for the two Chambers. The report on which this Bill is based was dated 1998. I do not presume to match the expertise of the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, nor of the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart. I intervene simply because, long ago, a distinguished predecessor of Sir Terence, Lord Scarman, and I plotted to introduce a more expeditious procedure for Law Commission Bills. But our efforts never came to fruition. I suspect that somewhere out there, he is now looking down on us with that enigmatic smile on his face. I regret that I was unable to attend the Second Reading last week of the Law Commission Bill, but I hope that the Government will accept my belated congratulations. I must confess that so far as I recollect, the last time I had occasion to discuss perpetuities and accumulations was while attempting a question in my law finals. I have grasped that sometimes the mysteries of the law really do engage with the real world. This Bill is not just an exercise in esoteric logic, nor even simply concerned with preserving intact vast estates. It is an attempt to enable ordinary people to make reasonable dispositions of their property without tripping over archaic tangles which, no doubt, once related to genuine practical problems. This is the Law Commission doing what I believe Lord Gardiner originally intended that it should; namely, building bridges between the law and the real world. It deserves to succeed.