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Small Claims (Courts)

: I am afraid that I have to disagree. I am not casting aspersions on the right hon. Gentleman, but having seen the amount of time, effort and money that the insurance company lobby spent on trying to reduce the value of personal injury claims and take money away from accident victims, as compared to the resources available to the APIL, I can say that the two do not bear any comparison whatever. I am concerned that as a result of the lobbying we are seeing an assault on the rights of personal injury victims, and I am not talking about cost regimes. For example, there is the disgrace of clause 1 of the Compensation Bill, which will come before the House soon. It is an unworthy Bill that will do significant damage to the rights of accident victims. We have seen an attack from the Home Office on the criminal injuries compensation scheme. In fact, one of the last big cases in the House of Lords was against the then Home Secretary, the right hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Mr. Howard), when he tried to implement similar reforms. Now we see from the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Mr. Beith) a suggestion over small claims. Even worse, the judiciary is in on the act too, with some disgraceful recent decisions in the Court of Appeal, such as in the pleural plaques cases, which take away the rights and compensation for injured and deserving workers. To return to small claims, we hear the arguments advanced for an increase. The Committee says £2,500, the Better Regulation Taskforce said £5,000 and the insurance industry say £5,000. Interestingly, however, the Civil Justice Council, the trade unions and the consumer groups say that there should be no increase whatever. One argument that has been prayed in aid concerns inflation. If inflation were the test, the level would go up to £1,500—if the retail prices index was applied, it would be £1,480. However, that assumes that personal injury damages have in fact kept pace with inflation, yet they have significantly failed to do so since the 1960s. There is not a great deal in that argument.