Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

As, theoretically, the noble and learned Lord is still in a semi-recumbent posture, I will ask him a rather different question, with the leave of the Committee. I referred to this in my earlier remarks. Many people this morning were asking this question on the telephone. Will the Government make some statement or give some clarification of this, either by the end of this Grand Committee or before Report? I do not ask him to answer this categorically today, but I want to see what would be his attitude to the notion that the Government should clarify what would be the effect of the Bill, if enacted, in regard to rescue matters and all the other matters that would arise if the BP explosion had happened not in Texas but here. That will be a very difficult statement to draw up, and I would not think of asking the noble and learned Lord for any kind of draft on his feet today; but people will ask that question. I am only putting the Government on notice that they ought to say something about what they think would be improved by the Bill if something like the detailed, 100-page Baker report was made about an incident here after the enactment of the Bill.