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Equality Bill [HL]

I hope that the noble Baroness will be a little cautious before she accedes to these amendments. One of the problems is that we have set up an organisation with huge—colossal—powers but we have then turned round and said who will be members of it. The noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, is right to say that the commission must be as independent as possible. However, in the end someone has to decide the matter. If the AOC appoints the relevant people, as the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, said, someone has to appoint the members of that committee. It all becomes very complicated. I am not so sure that there is not a certain amount to be said for the buck stopping where it starts, so to speak. The Minister who appoints these people should bear that responsibility rather than creating yet another body to look after yet more people. If we were to set up such a body, I hope that we would refer to a chairman and not to a chair, which is a most horrible habit.