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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

My Lords, I echo the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson. I know that I speak for my noble friend Lord Sharman, who manfully spent the best part of 13 days in the Moses Room. If I may add a personal note, I have often freely commented that I am disappointed that a number of noble Lords who have significant experience in company matters and business, and are appointed to your Lordships’ House because of their expertise, do not then bother to attend occasions such as this Bill when their expertise could have been so welcome. My noble friend Lord Sharman is an absolute exception to that rule and I know that he is sorry not to have been here today. He has been here on virtually every other occasion, notwithstanding his other significant business responsibilities. I know that my noble friend’s former colleague, the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, has enjoyed how he has instructed her on what she should say on many occasions. Finally, I thank the ministerial team. In the nine years that I have been in this House and involved in DTI Bills, this has been an absolute paradigm of how Bills should be conducted. There has been no point made by the Liberal Democrats or the Conservative Benches that has not been carefully considered—and when the Government or their advisers feel that we have made a good point, they have come back either to say that they agreed, or with an amendment improving our wording. Enormous credit ought to go to the two Ministers for the way that they have conducted this Bill.