"Will my noble friend assure the House that the Government will continue to resist the temptation of yet more legislation in this area and rely on persuasion? Secondly, can she tell us whether the existing law is being enforced? My suspicion is that it is extremely patchy...." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"My Lords, is my noble friend satisfied—I am thinking, for example, of the scandal of whiplash claims—that the legal resources available to the NHS are sufficient for the task?..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"My Lords, I strongly support Amendments 2, 3 and 4. The measures contained in the Bill are of fundamental importance, but they are extremely difficult to construct in a way which holds an appropriate balance between state security and individual liberty. The notion in the amendments that the outcome of …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"Does the Minister not accept that there is a difference between the judicial oversight, on which he laid some emphasis, and the political oversight that comes from having a sunset clause? Her Majesty’s justices can take only certain legal considerations into their protection of legislation. They cannot consider the wider …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"Can the noble Lord assure the Committee that taking small businesses out, as he requires under this amendment, will not take out shell companies, which are the major tool by which major international and, indeed, national frauds are effected?..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"My Lords, I reiterate what the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, has said. I spent the best part of my very long legal career acting for small businesses and start-ups, and nobody could be more in favour of them from virtually every point of view. However, we absolutely cannot leave a …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"Is the noble Lord sure of what he just said? He said that a subsidiary company in a chain of subsidiaries would not be a small company. I would want to be absolutely certain of that. My impression is rather the reverse: if it has minimal paid-up capital, as indeed …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"My Lords, I do not know whether it is for me to answer that question, but it is very germane. I fear that the truth is that the implementation of so many of our laws is just grotesquely inadequate. Large parts of many of the statutes we pass in this …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"My Lords, my name is on the amendments in this group, but I shall speak, if I may, to Amendment 37A in particular.
Amendment 37A defines “intermediaries”, which is the term used in Amendments 39, 41 and 43. As defined in Amendment 37A, “intermediaries” would catch, I think and hope, …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech
"Surely my noble friend understands that one is not looking for every company to have to make intermediate or particular requirements on its register. We need a power for the registrar—although it could be someone else—to say to a company, “Show us your books”. That would have a huge deterrent …..." Lord Phillips of Sudbury - View Speech