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Legal Services Bill [Lords]

I am here to discuss the Legal Services Bill, which talks of the Lord Chancellor appointing the legal services board. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to make a constructive comment on that, rather than repeating the same point over and over again, I am sure that the House will be appreciative. The independence of the legal system is a matter of serious concern. If the Lord Chancellor alone appoints the board, many will see that as political interference in the regulation of our legal services. That impacts on the independence of the profession and, from an international perspective, it seriously undermines our reputation as having truly independent legal services. To put matters into perspective, the overseas market for legal services contributes more than £2 billion a year to United Kingdom exports. That is a huge sum and we will put it at risk if the rest of the world feels that the British legal system is no longer independent. Moreover, in an increasingly global market, where there are multi-jurisdictional transactions, UK law is often chosen as the preferred legal basis. That, too, will be threatened if there is a question mark over the independence of our legal system.