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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

My Lords, that was a handsome offer. The Minister may not like cricket, but he certainly hit the ball to the boundary very effectively. I accept his warning about the extent to which consolidation can be achieved and that parts of the Bill which do not directly concern companies may be left over. Steps to bring all the company-relevant legislation into one place would be helpful. Provided that the Minister is prepared to say on the Floor of the House that further consolidation does not entail substantial change in the law, we would be happy to facilitate the passage of such legislation—always provided that we do not hear from an outside body such as the Law Society that there is an issue here which has been waiting to be sorted out for 20 years. It might be worthwhile to address such an issue in this Bill, but, as far as wading through the detail of the legislation, and provided that the Minister can say that there is no plan to change the law, I am sure that we can facilitate the passage of the legislation through this House.