---

Climate Change Bill [HL]

I find this amendment rather curious. The noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, keeps drawing the long straw in moving all the amendments to which I object while his noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach moves the amendments that I support. I do not understand what is going on. However, if the expertise is there, we should not presume that politicians are not capable of taking off their political hats when they walk into a room. Some people are perfectly capable of doing that. If we get into the business of ruling out individual national Parliaments or Assemblies, what happens if someone in the House of Lords turns out to be precisely the person that we need to be on the committee? We will go down a very dangerous route if we start accepting amendments of this nature. I beg the forgiveness of the noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, but I have to oppose vigorously this amendment—not that I would want to be a member of the committee; no one would vote me on to it with my modest skills.