Legal Services Bill [HL]

had given notice of his intention to move Amendment No. 13A: 13A: Schedule 1 , page 112, line 17, leave out ““first”” The noble Lord said: It has not been my habit, in the 10 years that I have been in this place, to attend legal debates. I have been attracted to do so arising out of the activities of some—I repeat ““some””—members of the legal profession who, I believe, have been cheating mine workers. I will not go any further down that lane; my feelings are well documented in debates in this House. Since I have been coming to these debates, I have enjoyed some of them, and I have been bored some of the time. I acknowledge the skills of the senior lawyers and the rest of the lawyer fraternity in this House. Since I have been attending these debates, I feel better informed. As the House is aware, the Bill states that only the first chair of the LSB will be a non-lawyer. To demonstrate its independence from the profession, and to give confidence to consumers, the non-lawyer criterion should also apply to all future chairs. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the first chair should be a lawyer. What is the reason? My amendment is to leave out ““first””. I am being looked at from down there; I do not know whether I am confusing someone.