Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Bill [HL]

I hope that the Minister will not accept the amendment. It is quite ridiculous. I wish that all the consumers in this country had the faintest idea of their rights and obligations and what the laws are in this country, let alone in many others. It has long been my quest to educate consumers and tell them what their rights and obligations are so that they can avoid the disasters that sometimes befall them. But the amendment proposes that we should try and protect them against foreign laws which are binding in foreign countries and that we should intervene. I am quite sure that even the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, who is second to none in his expertise in these matters, could not tell you what the law on consumer rights is in various countries. If we move even remotely into this area, we will be wasting a great deal of time and money which would neither be justified nor in the fundamental interests of consumers in this country.