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Company Law Reform Bill [Lords]

Of course the Leader of the House can leave. I shall not detain him longer, but I cannot understand how he believes that it was credible to tell the United States that it ought to join in on the issues to which the OFR and the Bill apply while asking the rest of Europe to allow us off the hook. Different hon. Members will place a different emphasis on the Bill. Different people feel the issues more or less sharply. Conservative Members are right to insist that the Bill be clear and simple. My hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton was right to say that the way in which the Government phrased the provisions that are supposed to replace the OFR are less than clear and may restrict rather than enable. Having said that, I hope that my hon. Friend will agree that we need to find an alternative that enshrines the simplicity and efficacy of the OFR and the effect that it would have produced. If we can get that back in the Bill, we may be able to make the changes that some of my noble Friends in the House of Lords tried to secure because of the inconsistency of the language, and also achieve the purpose that we share with the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton. That is more embarrassing for me than anything else. As my hon. Friends know, agreeing with the Liberal Democrats presents a genuine difficulty for me because I have to ask myself whether my argument is right if they agree with me. On this occasion, by accident, they appear to have arrived in the same place as me and, therefore, for a brief moment, I shall accept their support. Together, we must force the Government to act. They have shown themselves to be incompetent. They must show that they can do something right. The Bill is the chance to redeem themselves at least a little. Can we help the Government to do something that they should do and that, in their heart of hearts, they know that they must achieve?