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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

I support the amendment in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Freeman. From his remarks, I guess that he is also supporting the amendment in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Sharman. I strongly agreed with the opening remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Freeman, and the response of the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith. However, as ever, the devil will be in the detail—or the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, or whatever other cliché we want to use. From that interchange, I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Freeman, means that the Conservative Opposition will no longer attempt to amend the Bill through the pages of the Financial Times, and, from the remarks of the noble and learned Lord the Attorney-General, I hope that he entirely agrees with the letter in the newspaper at the weekend from the noble Lord, Lord Sainsbury, and that the Government will listen in a very reasoned way to the amendments that we bring from this side of the Chamber. On Amendment No. 151A, which the noble Lord, Lord Freeman, picked up, I want to make one point of principle and one point of detail. The point of principle was one that the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives made at Second Reading, and they have returned to it in this Committee. It is yet another example of the difficulties that we have because this is not a codification of company law. The noble Lord, Lord Freeman, indicated that Clause 156 gives an example of where general duties are different from existing common law rules and equitable principles. Not only because the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith, is here but also for the record and for Hansard—