Tuesday 26th February 2013

(11 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Mark Spencer Portrait Mr Spencer
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I am happy to agree with my hon. Friend and I pay tribute to the work that he has done to bring the legislation to this point.

David Nuttall Portrait Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)
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Does my hon. Friend agree that, regardless of whether there have been complaints, the existence of the adjudicators office will bring a cost so it would make sense to bring the whole thing to an end if it is not proving worth while to the consumer?

Mark Spencer Portrait Mr Spencer
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My hon. Friend makes an interesting point. We could make the same argument across government; if crime starts to fall in an area, do we withdraw the police because they are not necessary? We have to have a referee to make sure that the rules are being obeyed. The groceries code adjudicator will be a great referee and will have the teeth to make sure that the Goliath does not bully the David. That is something that the Government should be proud of and take forward to bring a little parity and common sense to the market.