Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill

My Lords, we have had a powerful and emotive debate and I want to be very brief because the House wants to hear from the Minister, who is obviously sympathetic, as was demonstrated by what has been said about his visits made and meetings with noble Lords on this issue. I am proud to support the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Alton of Liverpool, also supported by the noble Lord, Lord Avebury. I am delighted that the noble Lord, Lord Alton, supports my amendments in this group that deal with other industrial diseases—Amendments 132AB, 132D and 141ZB. In response to the noble Lord, Lord Thomas of Gresford, I say that if he thinks that other diseases are also important to deal with, he should look carefully at the amendments I may move in due course. I shall cut down appreciably on what I wanted to say. We know that asbestosis is not the only problem, but speeches have been made in this debate by experts who suggest that it is a problem out on its own that should be considered separately, as it will be this evening. It is because asbestosis is not the only problem that I tabled my amendment that deals with other serious industrial diseases. I do not need to go through the types of diseases that I am talking about, but they are the by-products of hard work. All these are inflicted on hard-working people who have spent their lives contributing to our society and economy, often in industries that no longer exist, and in heavy industry, manufacturing and public services. As has been said by many noble Lords, many of these diseases do not manifest themselves for years and are the legacy of coal mining, our proud tradition of manufacturing, steel making and other professions. I have here a letter received from the wife of a man who suffered from mesothelioma, to which the noble and learned Lord, Lord Davidson, referred in his Second Reading speech many months ago. The man was between 16 and 24 years old when he was exposed to asbestos as an apprentice lift engineer, erecting lifts on building sites. He stayed in that industry throughout his working life. He loved his job and most of his customers became his friends. His wife said: "““This disease has affected our lives in every possible way and stress levels have been extremely high for both of us””." She went on to say many things that will move the House, and added that the stress and worry that go with what she described were unbelievable. Yet, she claimed, the Government were trying to make victims face additional stress and worry by making them decide whether they can afford to take out a civil action. She added: "““Compensation would be eroded by having to pay legal costs plus insurance to cover defendants' legal costs, plus the worry of having to pay some fees upfront. This is an insult and will discourage people from making a claim to which they are entitled. This Bill should be designed to stop the 'ambulance chaser' brigade who contact prospective clients and advertise constantly, not workplace victims whose lives were put at risk by exposure to asbestos””." Of course we are right to control the cost of litigation, but road traffic accidents and slip-and-trip accidents are quite separate and distinct. It is incongruous to somehow link them with what we have been talking about in this debate. It is unnecessary and rather cruel. It is with pleasure that I invite the Minister to accept the amendments in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Alton, and myself.