Defamation Bill

I am delighted that the Defamation Bill has returned to this House for us to consider the amendme...

Is the hon. Lady aware that these amendments have been overtaken by events and will not be presse...

I am very aware of time scales and if the hon. Gentleman could bear with me for 30 seconds longer...

I thank the Minister for giving way so early in her speech. She is presumably aware that the Join...

I fully understand those reasons, and if the hon. Gentleman will bear with me and allow me to pro...

I am grateful to the Minister for taking us through this matter. The problem comes when a body—no...

If my hon. Friend will bear with me, I will deal with that specific point. If I do not, I am sure...

Will the Minister give way?

I would like to make a little more progress.

On that point?

No, in a moment. I want to make some progress first.

If the claimant succeeded at the permi...

I thank the Minister for her generosity in giving way. The amendment would be the only place in t...

I hear what the hon. Gentleman says, but the early resolution procedure will not fix the problem ...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way—I know she wants to get into the flow of her speech—...

I have just explained that we have requested that an early resolution procedure should be looked ...

rose—

rose—

I would also like to make the point—I can hear that there are concerns about this issue—that I am...

I listened with care to what the shadow Secretary of State said just now. Although it is true tha...

I am grateful to my hon. and learned Friend, who makes a very good point indeed.

Just two names: Peter Wilmshurst and the hundreds of thousands of pounds by a corrupt organisatio...

As I intimated earlier, fixing the problem of fairness and creating the right balance between the...

Before my hon. Friend leaves this issue and following the intervention by our hon. Friend the Mem...

In relation to serious financial harm—that aspect and that aspect alone at the moment.

I no...

At the last general election, all three main parties were committed to reform our defamation laws...

rose—

I will give way once and then move on.

I thank my right hon. Friend, who referred to the efforts of Baroness Hayter, particularly in res...

My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that I thank them later in my speech, but I will do it now...

As the right hon. Gentleman knows, I am very sympathetic to the point he is making, and I certain...

I am terribly sorry, but the Minister did not say that. She alluded to the civil procedure rules ...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will in a moment, but I want to make some progress first. We have only an hour in which to deba...

rose—

I will give two examples, and then I will give way to the hon. and learned Gentleman, as I know h...

First, may I make it perfectly clear to the ignorant person who tweeted about me this afternoon t...

Order. I am sure the hon. and learned Gentleman will have an opportunity to catch my eye and make...

Thank you for rescuing me from that speech, Mr Speaker.

First, we are not saying corporatio...

The right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) suggested in his interventi...

My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that I think it is good manners and courtesy to take an in...

rose—

I shall give way to the hon. Gentleman in a moment.

I was talking about the huge amount of ...

The right hon. Gentleman might get as far as I did by doing that.

Atos do disability checks...

The hon. Gentleman might have been in the House in 1993, when Lord Keith made his judgment, but t...

There have been three defamation Bills in my lifetime; I do not know whether that helps the right...

It shows how old you are.

It does, and perhaps the right hon. Gentleman will allow me to—

Order. May I point out that I think the hon. and learned Gentleman was born not in 1853 but, if m...

On 26 October, and I share a birthday with President Mitterrand and Hillary Clinton. Let us move ...

Does the hon. and learned Gentleman accept that there is a fundamental difference between non-nat...

That is not only fundamental; it is highly uncontroversial. Human beings can get damages for hurt...

I would be grateful if my hon. and learned Friend could advise briefly on two points. First, at w...

I shall not unwind the case of Singh or the Wilmshurst case; they have been before the courts and...

Will the hon. and learned Gentleman give way?

If the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, this debate stops at 7.13 pm.

Arms companies can be ...

Has the hon. and learned Gentleman seen that the amendment that I hope the Government will bring ...

I am discussing the amendment to the Bill, not the one somewhere else that the hon. Gentleman was...

I wish to speak briefly to Lords amendment 2, which would be a major change to the Bill, and to a...

I ask the hon. Gentleman to have a look at new clause 2(3), which says:

“The court must str...

The hon. and learned Gentleman has forgotten that the proposal does not apply to non-profit-makin...

I want to make two points that were not those I intended to make originally. My third point is th...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley), with whom I h...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that “a body corporate” in subsection (1)(a) of the new clause pro...

The hon. and learned Gentleman is correct. I understand that that is the intention and that is wh...