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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, I have put my name to this amendment because I have seen how the threat of costs has been used to blackmail people into not appealing, particularly in employment, with very small employers. For example, an employee may leave for whatever reason; the employer may have done nothing wrong but it does not dare to defend itself because of the threat of costs. I would hate to see that read across into this Bill. We have previously discussed the behaviour of certain firms of solicitors. I understand that that cannot be stopped immediately—it is not simple and the whole thing would be very long-winded. However, something like this amendment would be a sensible way of stopping abuses from day one.