Charities Bill [HL]

My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, said, my name is down to Amendment No. 87. I wish to add two points to the very expert proposition for the case put by the noble Lord. The Government have said that they want to maintain confidence in the charitable sector. That is one of the strategic purposes behind this Bill. Therefore, where we have mergers, making false statements is not only clearly a very serious matter by any standard, legal or moral, but it is also the sort of effect that is likely to undermine confidence in the sector. Those who are affected by it are likely to take a much more stringent view of the charitable sector in the future, which is something that we should seek to avoid. Moreover, in the past I have talked about systemic risks. Where a series of false statements are made, you may endanger not just one charity—the charity that has been taken over—but also the charity that has done the taking over. You may have a series of difficulties that flow from it. What the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, is trying to achieve here is important. I cannot see any downside for including this sort of health warning in the Bill. I support what he has said.