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Companies Bill [Lords]

Having listened carefully to all the arguments, I think that this has been a very interesting debate of the highest calibre. I hope that my few remarks will not detract from that quality. I see the point of clause 117, and I see a great deal of merit in what the Government have done. I also commend what was said by the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell). There is a balance to be drawn. On the one hand, there is the legitimate right of the public to know who the registered shareholders are. That relates to the veil of corporate liability that forms part of the history of company law. All that is fine and rightly understood, and we are all in favour of making everything as translucent and transparent as possible. The other side of the balance, as the Government recognise, is that we live in dangerous times. There are legitimate companies carrying out their business, yet their people are being threatened for no good reason. I fully acknowledge what the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly) and the right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. Hogg) said about investigative journalism. What they said is very important.