My Lords, if that is an offer to come back tomorrow and carry on, I do not know how popular that will be.
There are many things that I like about the noble Lord opposite. First, he is very likeable and fun to be with. Secondly, he has a long connection with the great city of Nottingham, which he will know is something that I share. Thirdly, there is what Mr Baldwin would call his awful frankness. However, there is something of a philosophical divide that will come through in this discussion. I will reply in detail to the amendments, but what we have heard from the noble Lord is that the Labour Government that he envisages would want to use the powers under this Bill to constrain individual private companies that sought to provide public services to conform to the will of whatever the Labour Party’s wishes in power might be.
7.45 pm
“Hear! Hear!” from the whole of the other side. That is the interventionist Labour Party that has never changed and will never change its spots and there it is. The noble Lord invited this: he made a great declaratory statement about the importance of Committee, when we can set out what we actually believe and think, and we heard that. Yes, he is right: that voice should go beyond this Committee because there is a philosophical difference.
I understand all the points that are being made in this debate, fundamentally important points in relation to accessibility, disability, environmental concerns, small businesses and so on. I understand the aspirations of noble Lords to see these objectives going forward. As the noble Lord himself said, this is done through the broad construct of the legislation that a Government that has been formed can put before the country. It does not have to be, and I would submit it should not be in many of these cases, put through a procurement Bill that is designed to enable. We heard a great plea, which I support, to enable SMEs and charities to come forward. If we make this Bill too complicated, and encrust it too much, as some noble Lords are asking, that will work against the very objectives that some others in the Committee have been asking for. So, there is a philosophical difference: the Government wish to have a flexible and lasting framework, and we hope one that is more simple.