§ 5.30 p.m.
§ Order of the Day for the Third Reading read.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time. I simply wish to express my thanks to all those noble Lords who have given me their support 424 during the passage of this Bill, and I should like particularly to mention the noble and learned Lord the Lord Chancellor, the noble Baroness, Lady Emmet of Amberley, my noble friends Lord Lloyd of Hampstead and Lord Denning, and the noble Lords, Lord Cohen, Lord Barrington and Lord Strange.
Initiating a Private Member's Bill and conducting it through the House is not always easy, and one has to rely on the help and encouragement of many people who are versed in the technicalities of Parliamentary Bills. Therefore, I should like to express my indebtedness to the Law Commission for the technical assistance which they have so generously given me. There are other people, also, behind the scenes, but I have learned that it embarrasses them considerably if I mention their names publicly. After all, civil servants are supposed to be anonymous. Nevertheless, when I have been in some distress—and when I say "distress", I mean it from a technical point of view—and have gone to them for advice, they have always been extremely helpful. Therefore. I hope that when they read this in Hansard each one of them, whether it be he or she, will realise that I am applying my thanks to them.
I also want to say something to noble Lords who have not always seen eye to eye with me on certain aspects of this Bill. I hope that the time will come when they will regard this Bill as a welcome contribution to the legislation designed to ease the lot of many overburdened and harassed wives and mothers of Britain.
§ Moved, That the Bill be now read 3a.—(Baroness Summerskill.)
§ On Question, Bill read 3a, and passed, and sent to the Commons.