I apologise for missing the earlier part of the proceedings; I was chairing a debate in Westminster Hall.
I want briefly to voice my support for amendments 8 and 9, to which I have added my name, and also for new clause 8, in my name, which effectively repeats amendment 42 as proposed by Lord Sharkey in the other place. As Members will know, that amendment was withdrawn on the solid understanding of a promise by the Minister in the Lords who said that her officials were working through the detail of a ban on cold calling. She went on to say that the Government would bring forward amendments to this House to implement that ban. Plainly, they have not done so.
I am not quite sure why the Government have backtracked on what seemed to be such an obvious and solid promise. It might have seemed that focusing on the role of the Information Commissioner and Ofcom was the easy option, but, with all due respect to the hon. Member for North Warwickshire (Craig Tracey), the kind of cold calling that innocent people are being subjected to every day is actually a cold, calculated business strategy; it is not only an issue about the misuse of personal data, important though that may be.
This Bill is supposed to be designed to ensure that people are protected and that the financial decisions that they make are taken after careful consideration and access to independent guidance. Why on earth are the Government reneging on their promise to eliminate cold calling for commercial purposes, the aim of which is to bounce people into decision making and deny them the time for proper, careful consideration and access to good guidance? New clauses 3 and 4 simply will not do the trick. People may well see them as a deception—an attempt by the Government to fool people into thinking that they are taking action when they are not really doing so at all. Everyone knows that it is a complete nuisance and underhand practice designed to entrap consumers.
4.45 pm
Let me spell it out: I welcome the action that will be taken to try to protect those whose pension pots are the target of tricksters and speculators; but we also need to
ban the claims management companies that phone people up to tell them about the accident that they have been involved in or the compensation they are entitled to for the tummy bug that wrecked their holiday. Those companies are nothing more than scam merchants, and this place should exist to expose them and put an end to their shoddy practices. Nothing else will convince the public that this Government are genuine when the Prime Minister talks about being on the side of the little person, rather than vested interests. We should demonstrate whose side we are on tonight. I want to hear the Minister say that he is going to put an end to this practice once and for all, and I hope that my own Front Benchers, having reflected on the situation, might indicate that they are willing to put further pressure on Ministers with regard to new clause 8.