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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

No. With respect to the noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, and his deep experience in these matters, that is not enough it itself; that is the substance of the subsection we are talking about. This clause says that we have new duties but they are all subject to general common law and equitable principles. We are saying that that is not clear enough because there is considerable doubt about the interrelationship between those common law and equitable principles and the general duties set out here. In Committee we would like the noble and learned Lord, Lord Goldsmith—bearing in mind the legally arcane nature of the arguments being put while he is here today—to set out, not only for the Committee but also for future interpreters of this arcane clause, how he sees the interrelationship between the clauses that I have mentioned, this clause, and common law and equitable principles.