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Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill

I support the new clause tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, West and Penistone (Mr. Clapham), and echo what has been said about his great work in this regard. I also share the outrage and concern expressed by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire, North (Jim Sheridan) and the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) about the Law Lords' judgment. One of my brothers developed pleural plaques, and eventually died of mesothelioma. I remember full well trying, before and after his death, to persuade the authorities to take seriously the situation in which he had found himself, and in which his widow found herself. Happily it was resolved in the end, but not before we had gone through all the legal hoops that could possibly be put in the way of a just and fair settlement. There is, however, no just and fair settlement for someone who dies in such an horrific way as someone who dies from mesothelioma. One must see it or experience it to understand just what kind of death it really is. Let me issue a cri de coeur to the Minister. I entirely agree with what was said earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire, North. People out there do not see this in quite the legalistic way in which it may be seen by some in this House and the other place, and by the Law Lords; they see it as a matter of simple justice and humanity. I sincerely hope that somewhere in the framework of the Bill the Minister will find a way of assuaging the doubts of so many people about the Government's good intentions.