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Proceeding contribution from Lord Strathclyde (Conservative) in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 28 March 2012. It occurred during Debate on bill on Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill [HL].


Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill [HL]

My Lords, I cannot think what that would be. The noble Baroness, Lady Farrington, went back to the BBC report. Let me say this for the record: the Government have not seen the report. No member of the Government has seen it, and no civil servant has seen it. The Government have no view as to the recommendations on the bishops or anybody else, other than those that were listed in the draft Bill or the White Paper. There is no collusion between the Joint Committee of both Houses and the Government in any shape or form. The noble Lord, Lord Richard, can nod in agreement, and I am sure he will. When the report is published, it will be as much of a surprise to me as to my colleagues in government. Apart from anything else, I am very much looking forward to it. I assure the House that over the next few months there will be plenty of opportunities to debate and discuss the future of this House at considerable length in many different fora. All those matters will be taken seriously. I did not hear my noble friend Lord Forsyth, but I am sure it was a quip that I would not necessarily have been able to respond to very quickly. I can assure noble Lords that there will be a debate before the Bill is published. I will, of course, work with the usual channels on when that will be. I shall finish with this point. I do not wish to pre-empt the Queen's Speech, but it has been known for some time that the Government intend to legislate in this area. The Joint Committee may well say, ““Under no circumstances should you do this””. It may say, ““You should do this, but here are some things you may wish to consider””. I have no idea. The Government will wish to take that into account, and will do so after the publication of the report.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
736 c1419 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
Disclosure of information Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill
Legislation
Trusts (Capital and Income) Bill (HL) 2010-12 to 2012-13
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk