COMPANIES BILL [H.L.] (Hansard, 23 July 1979)

§ Lord CULLEN of ASHBOURNE
My Lords, I beg to move that the Bill do now pass.

§ Lord ELWYN-JONES
My Lords, while this is not the moment, perhaps, to seek the division of the House on this matter, nevertheless I must repeat the complaint that was made from this side of the House about the total inadequacy of this Bill, which purports to be a Bill to deal with the reform of the company law. At Committee stage we on this side sought in vain to use this opportunity for Parliament to deal with some of the outstanding defects in the present state of the company law—defects which are notorious, like insider dealing, like loans to company directors, like the failure to accept that a duty should be placed upon directors to protect and look after the interests of employees. All those suggestions were rejected. I think Her Majesty's Government are going to pay a high price for the failure to act at this stage, bearing in mind some legislation which will not be regarded by employees as being favourable to them; on the contrary. So, while I am not proposing to seek the division of the House on this matter, I think I would be neglecting my duty to my colleagues on this side if we did not continue to register our protest about the inadequacy of the Bill, grateful as we were for the three small morsels that were given to us during the Committee stage.

§ Lord LLOYD of KILGERRAN
My Lords, this Bill deserves the support of the House, but I should like to support what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Elwyn-Jones, said at Second Reading, that this Bill was merely a morsel, and also to echo his other use of the word " morsel " in his speech today. I also join with the noble and learned Lord in saying how disappointed we on these Benches are that so many of the urgent matters which he has adumbrated have not been included in this Bill. However, to some extent I share the views of the Government that many of the clauses which were included in the Bill which was passed by this House before the election contained provisions, particularly those relating to insider dealings, which were rather difficult to comprehend; but at an early moment the Government will no doubt be introducing a new Bill which will cover these very important matters which require urgent attention in the reform of company law.

§ Lord CULLEN of ASHBOURNE
My Lords, the noble and learned Lord has said again in his usual charming way things he said earlier. I can only say that both the matters that he would have liked to have attended to this time and the appetite of the noble Lord, Lord Lloyd of Kilgerran, will be satisfied in due course, in 1980, by a second Bill.