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Mental Health Bill [HL]

I do not normally speak on something like this, but I will for just one and a half seconds. When my noble friend Lord Howe was talking, I watched with fascination the enraptured looks of the people opposite, who were listening to him with immense care. The same applied to the noble Baroness on the Liberal Democrat Benches. In this Chamber, we have a wealth of knowledge, experience and know-how. All I am begging the noble Lord to say is, ““My mind is not totally made up, and I will listen to the expertise that there is in this Chamber””. From the faces that I saw, there is a real interest in making the Bill as exactly right as human beings can make it. Will the noble Lord please instruct the Whips’ Office to get their tanks off his lawn if he is convinced by something that someone—other than me, who knows nothing about it—says? That is the only thing that I will say on this Bill.