I will not detain the House for long but I think that I ought to say a few words; first, to thank the Minister, in particular, for the number of meetings that I know she has held—I suspect that she has lost count—and her willingness to respond in writing and in some detail on issues that have been raised, which is certainly appreciated. I also thank the noble Lords, Lord Wolfson of Tredegar and Lord Sharpe of Epsom. I will not comment too much about people who stayed late since I probably fell rather short in that regard myself. Some of us made sure we left in time to get last trains, but not everybody did.
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I take this opportunity to thank my Front-Bench colleagues, in particular my noble friends Lord Coaker and Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede. I cannot possibly mention everybody involved but I want to thank the large number of contributors from the Back Benches, not least on my own side, including my noble friends Lady Lister of Burtersett and Lord Dubs—they are by no means the only ones—as well as those from the Government Back Benches, the Lords spiritual, the Cross Benches and, of course, the Liberal Democrats. I hope that noble Lords will forgive me for not going through and naming everybody; I would be here all night if I did. With apologies, of course, I must also thank the Greens; I am on the verge of getting into real trouble.
I thank members of the Government’s Bill team as well. I know that they have to work particularly hard and I am sure they must get frustrated at times with some of the contributions that are made, not least by myself, but they always deal with us in a good-natured way; we appreciate that very much indeed. I also thank the staff in our own office here in the Lords, not least Grace Wright, who covers Home Office matters and without whose support and backing on this Bill, frankly, I would have been in real difficulty. I appreciated that very much; I am sure that that applies to my noble friends Lord Coaker and Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede too.
As the Minister said, a number of amendments have been passed. They have come not just from the Opposition Front Bench—indeed, a minority may have been led by us—but from all parts of the House. I think that sums up the frustration—that is probably understating it—that many people feel about some of the content of the Bill. I can only say that I hope that the Government, and the other place, will give full and careful consideration to the changes and amendments that have been made to this still-controversial Bill by your Lordships’ House.
As the Minister has mentioned, we spent five days in Committee and three on Report. I appreciate that the Minister, on behalf of the Government, will not be excited by the outcomes of all the votes but, bearing in mind that those amendments did come, and in many cases had support, from all parts of this House, the least we can expect from the Government and the other place is that they give them full and careful consideration.