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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, as the Minister pointed out when he referred to rogue wheel-clampers, it seems to take a very long time and the suffering of tens of thousands of people before a Government will move to deal with an abuse that has some justification in fundamental law. Rogue wheel-clampers are merely enforcing their rights of private property. I suppose that bailiffs are doing an excellent job in retrieving lots of money for the public purse and for creditors. Here we have another case where many tens of thousands of people are subject to something that is not as we would wish it to be in a proper and perfect world. I appreciate what the Minister said about there being deeper questions here, and I understand that my own Front Bench shares those qualms. Other than an expression of sympathy, I would like to hear an expression of the determination to deal with this question if it continues or gets any worse. It would be immensely helpful to hear that from the Government and to know that this is not a permanent disfigurement on the face of copyright law and practice. If the SRA cannot deal with it, we will find some other way of dealing with it ourselves. It would be a great comfort to know that that was the Government’s position.