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Companies Bill [Lords] (Programme) (No. 3)

I sympathise with what the hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr. Duncan) has just said. The real problem is not just the amount of time allowed on Report, given all the new amendments and new clauses, but more importantly, the timing of this stage of the Bill. As the hon. Gentleman said, Opposition Members have had only a short time to digest, understand and consider the various late amendments. However, most of the problems go back to a decision, which unfortunately seemed to have universal consent, at least in all parts of the other place, to bring into the Bill’s scope a massive consolidation exercise, including hundreds of new clauses from existing company law. This Bill was originally called the Company Law Reform Bill, and its intention was to reform parts of company law. It is now called the Companies Bill thanks to an interesting vote in Committee, which the Government managed to lose—technically it was a free vote on their side. The Bill is now a general Companies Bill. It tries to consolidate the whole of the existing law, and it is that specific decision which has led to the various difficulties. The Government have been courteous and helpful to Liberal Democrat Members in making sure that there is enough room to debate the topics that we want to debate. Given how much is going on in the Bill, however, the fundamental problem is that there is not enough time for debate, because at this time of year there is not enough time to allow additional days for discussion. We are in a very difficult position, which was entirely foreseeable when all sides decided to change the Bill from a reform Bill into a consolidation Bill. As it stands, the programme motion is not adequate.