Speeches by Tugendhat.

“I am afraid that amendment 18 is on the same point we have made throughout, which is about overburdening.”

“We are nearly there, Sir Edward.”

“It’s your chairmanship! I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“On a point of order, Sir Edward. I will comment on it very happily, and merely repeat that the SIA is a regulator that has faced significant challenges over recent years and, again, I raise the question as to whether it is the appropriate regulator. As usual, however, the Minister would have the numbers in a vote.”

“It would be churlish of me not to thank you, Sir Edward, for the speed and efficiency with which you have guided us through this. This is also an opportunity to put on the record my thanks to the Minister, who has been a friend for many years—nearly 20 years, actually. It is a wonderful symmetry that, on my last day on…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 6 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Clause 7 Enhanced duty premises and qualifying events: documenting compliance Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”

“This very simple amendment is in line with the others that I have already spoken about. It would limit the Government’s power to exert extra burdens on small businesses.”

“I beg to move amendment 25, in clause 6, page 5, line 1, leave out paragraph (a). This amendment prevents the Secretary of State from creating further requirements for enhanced duty premises by regulations.”

“Simply to say that, although there needs to be a maximum sum to levy as a penalty, £18 million strikes any reasonable person as extremely high. Although we completely agree with compliance, the fines strike me as a little out of proportion. Clause 17 accordingly ordered to stand part of the Bill. Amendments made: 5, in…”

“I tabled the new clause on the SIA for the simple reason that its reputation goes before it. Work that was done in the Department under a previous regime demonstrated that there were alternatives, which we felt would offer not only better value for money but greater ministerial oversight and better accountability to th…”

“I tabled the amendments for the simple reason that a burden will fall on businesses and on individuals; we can belittle it and say that complying will take only an hour or two, but for many small businesses that is a significant burden. As was made clear in the evidence session only the other day, the burden on local a…”

“I beg to move amendment 22, in clause 2, page 2, line 11, leave out “200” and insert “300”. This amendment sets the threshold for qualifying premises at 300 individuals.”

“Given the very obvious numbers on the Committee, there is no point in pushing the amendment to a vote, but I still believe that the burden on small businesses is too great. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Clause 2 ordered to stand part of the Bill. Schedule 1 Specified uses…”

“No, I am not withdrawing it; I am just not moving it.”

“It will be.”

“I have had the great privilege of meeting Figen and Brendan over many months on this, so I have no questions.”

“On a point of order, Mr Speaker.”

“Not true.”

“The old principle that we used to apply was the Wilson principle—the principle of self-determination—which the Foreign Secretary may remember is the defence of the Falkland Islands and the defence of Gibraltar. He has now just violated that principle by undermining the rights of the Chagossian people in favour of a cla…”

“And I rejected it then.”