Legal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, I strongly agree with my noble friend. I was very surprised to find this new clause appearing at such a late stage in our consideration of the Bill without any prior warning. It is fundamentally flawed for the Government to rewrite in this way the rules concerning rights of audience and the right to conduct litigation. As my noble friend has pointed out, the restrictions on those rights serve an important public purpose; namely, that those who carry out the functions are properly trained and are subject to appropriate professional duties. It may well be that there has been some good reason for this new clause appearing at this very late stage without proper consultation. If there is, we look forward to hearing it.