I thank the hon. Gentleman for being interested in my view. Although I understand the point that is being made as well as that being made by the Minister, I think that in these matters, for all large corporations that operate nationally, taking the first step puts them at a reputational advantage because they are seen to lead the way even though there might be occasions on which doing that appears to put them at some short-term commercial disadvantage. So this is not as simple as saying that anyone is necessarily incurring a commercial disadvantage. For those reasons, we would welcome these new clauses, and we are aware that they would also apply to important sectors of the Scottish economy.
I shall briefly say something about Scottish National party’s new clause on whistleblowing. I am particularly grateful to the right hon. Member for Barking for asking the Minister why he would not support that new clause. Indeed, as she spoke, I thought that, rather than our pressing the new clause to a vote here, it might be best to engage in cross-party discussions on how best to construct a thorough way forward. I agree wholeheartedly with the right hon. Lady, because when we look at the number of cases that have involved taking whistleblowers to court, one wonders where the balance of the scales of justice lie.
I recognise that changes have been made to the requirements on whistleblowing, some of which come into effect this September in the banking sector, but the requirements oblige companies to do things such as
appoint their own whistleblowers champions and report the amount of whistleblowing to their boards. Those things require a culture of willingness in companies. If the will is not there, the current processes will have next to no effect. We are not saying that we know precisely how to secure effective whistleblowing. That is why it would be useful to have some cross-party discussions, in which I am sure the right hon. Lady would be happy to engage. In that spirit, although we believe in the new clause, we will not press it to a vote and look forward to supporting the votes led by the right hon. Ladies.