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Postal Services Bill [HL]

Our final amendment on Part 2 from these Benches is very simple and I hope can be dealt with quickly. Our concerns here are about the drafting of the Bill, not the Government’s intentions; at least, I hope that they are not, because, having said that, it occurs to me that there has as yet been no indication of what the Government’s intentions are with this clause. Have the Government had any difficulty extracting the necessary information from the relevant people? Indeed, the only people whom I can imagine holding relevant information are the trustees of the RMPP, and the Minister has said many times that the Government are working closely with them. Therefore, I cannot see why this clause is necessary. The amendment suggests the barest possible safeguard as regards how this provision might be used, which would be to protect legally privileged information. It is a common safeguard that has been drafted into many precedent pieces of legislation. Will the Minister explain why it has not been included here? I beg to move.