My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh of Pickering. The noble Baroness, Lady Andrews, made a superb opening speech. I also agree with everything said by the noble Baroness, Lady Meacher. They were two superb speeches.
I want to raise something that the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, said in the last debate and with which I strongly disagree. He said that there is no debate in this House. This is an absolute fallacy. A normal debate is when one side puts its argument and the other side responds. What the noble Lord meant by “lively debate” is rude interruption. I do not see why we should accept that as normal debate; it simply is not. When I was first in this House, I found it extremely difficult because some rather nasty Peers interrupted my early speeches. It was very distracting for me and for those listening to me. I disagree completely with that concept of a debate. The reason we have no debate in this House is that we all agree that the Government’s legislation is rubbish. That is why there is no argument. Even the noble Lord agrees with the noble Lords, Lord Foulkes and Lord Fox. We are all agreeing, apart from—well, sometimes the Minister agrees.
How dare anyone suggest that people in this Chamber have more of a right to speak than those outside? I have kept away from this House because I did not want to risk my life or other people’s. I care about this very much. Why should people in this red and gold bubble think they are entitled to a different sort of debate? I am here now only because I am so angry about some of the Bills coming through and I cannot express my fury well enough virtually and remotely; it does not come across through the screen. I do not want to be here. I am here only because it is the best way to get my point across. Those staying away are being more rational.
4.45 pm
I return to the internal market Bill. We are reaching a point where Hansard should be given copy-and-paste versions of our speeches. We keep saying the same thing, particularly about the Henry VIII powers. I do not understand why the Government do not accept that it is not democratic for Ministers to continually grab bits of power for themselves because they think they have to make quick decisions. The Government are in an incredibly difficult situation and I have some sympathy for them. I cannot imagine how any Government could handle it perfectly, but they cannot keep grabbing bits of power. The Government should accept that Parliament can react quickly if it has to.
There are excessive powers in parts of the Bill that are infuriating. The experience of the last nine months shows that we should be sceptical of granting the Government any made-affirmative powers. The Bill already tramples over everything in the name of a free market. The Government want even more power to be even more destructive. I strongly oppose these powers and the government amendments. I believe that the Minister’s amendments should be withdrawn.