Royal Albert Hall Bill [HL]
Debate between Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town and Lord Moynihan of Chelsea
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
My Lords, I was not going to speak because the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Hale, did much better than I could in explaining what we did on the committee. But I have to note that on the night before we met, having prepared for this for some weeks beforehand, the Royal Albert Hall tried to get me to recuse myself on the allegation of something that had happened 10 years ago: that somebody had praised me on a website. The night before, the hall thought I should stand down from the committee. That is how the Albert Hall dealt with us as a committee. We did not hear from the people whom we then decided did not have locus standi. Therefore, I hope the noble Lord will withdraw what he just said about our committee.
Lord Moynihan of Chelsea (Con)
I express my regret to the noble Baroness for any inadvertent inappropriate language, but I repeat that an individual who it was agreed had no locus standi was allowed to speak for half an hour before the Bill Committee, and then the Royal Albert Hall was refused permission to put its own side of the story.
Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
I am really sorry, but I do not think we can allow that to be said. Maybe it would be better for the chair of the Committee to say this, but I do not think an allegation like that, which is so inaccurate, can be made.