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Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

Formally, I have to be grateful to my noble friend for his response, but I do not think that he has got the point. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord O’Neill for expressing the Scottish problem, as I expressed the Welsh one. I understand why the noble Baroness, Lady Wilcox, is opposed to this; the Conservatives have very little representation in Wales and even less representation in Scotland, so they have always been opposed to devolution. But the serious point is that the devolution settlement is here to stay, whoever forms whatever Government. The noble Baroness, Lady Miller, was constructive on the point. She recognised the issues and I hope that her party will support something along these lines aswe move forward to the next stage. My noble friend Lord Borrie criticised some of my wording, quite understandably. I would never pretend that the wording of amendments I produce in Committee is perfect and beyond criticism. The Minister has set his face against all this. I started by interrupting, but I will not take issue again. Anyone who reads what he said will recognise that there are serious problems with the Government’s position. I ask him to do this Committee one favour and to speak to my noble friend Lord Whitty, who made a powerful intervention on the right lines and who will be responsible in time for some of these issues. If he would speak to my noble friend Lord Whitty, he might understand my points—not necessarily in the words that I have produced, but in the spirit of how I am moving it. Perhaps my noble friend would respond to that?