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Company Law Reform Bill [HL]

My Lords, I think that the Minister may have been anxious about the good news that he was able to give us on consolidation. That is something these Benches have been very keen on. If he is able to bring consolidation forward, we are happy to repeat our assurance that it is not our intention to take up those clauses that have just been moved, without any other change in the law. Provided that he is able to give us that assurance, and that we are not told by the Law Society or some outside body that a lacuna here has been waiting to be tackled for 20 years, in the interest of getting a better and more comprehensible Companies Act we are happy to make sure that we do not delay the Bill’s passage through the House when the Minister brings it back. We all feel that consolidation is a good thing, and I am delighted that the Government are able to move in that direction.