---

Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

Again, I am grateful to start this debate rather than say that I have the answer. I do not understand the answer that I have been given. What does it mean when it says in a newspaper that Shell has announced profits of £82 billion? In some sense, it must mean globally, and yet quite often it may or may not be an animal in company law—as we were talking about as per my noble and learned friend’s answer just now. Most people out there just do not understand the angels on the head of a pin that have just been described by my noble and learned friend. If we are to have a code of practice, it is necessary in the globalisation debate to get people to understand the invention of the company in the 18th and 19th centuries. That company has, by the way, limited liability, which is what makes it tick and why people have more responsibilities than if they have unlimited liability. People need to understand how the new phenomenon of the 21st century should be accountable. That was my question. Unless my noble and learned friend can produce any more points—