Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

I shall be brief because I made my point in an intervention. I am largely persuaded by the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch (James Brokenshire) about amendment No. 1. He made a sound point. However, I am much more troubled by new clause 3 because it is important to keep in mind that criminal liability should depend on a finding of culpability—fault. There is a serious distinction between the duties of the investing company and those of the operating company. They are not the same. For example, a land company might decide to invest in a hotel. The duties of the directors of the land company do not necessarily reach down to operating the hotel. It is not for the investor in the land company to ensure that, for example, the lifts operate or the hotel floors are kept free of grease so that people do not fall. It would be manifestly unjust to conflate the duties of the investor with those of the operating company. However, I do not claim that there may not be circumstances in which that general principle should be displaced. I can imagine artificial constructions whereby it would be right to attach the liability of the operating company to the directors of the investing company. However, the new clause creates a presumption that the investing company could be liable for the failures of the operating company and I am uneasy about that. Again, for the avoidance of doubt, if I have an interest to declare, I do so because my wife is the chairman of an investing company.