It is a pleasure to have heard two excellent speeches from Opposition Members. I particularly welcome the decision of the Home Affairs Committee to look into this matter. In a Parliament that has been dominated by Select Committees, that is welcome. The right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) has...

It is a pleasure to have heard two excellent speeches from Opposition Members. I particularly welcome the decision of the Home Affairs Committee to look into this matter. In a Parliament that has been dominated by Select Committees, that is welcome. The right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) has...

The Leader of the House will be aware that sections of the media are covering the issue of libel tourism, which is something that Ministers will have to judge on its merits. [Interruption.] Yes, Libel tourism. However, has she noticed that the issue of no win, no fee methods of...

The Leader of the House will be aware that sections of the media are covering the issue of libel tourism, which is something that Ministers will have to judge on its merits. [Interruption.] Yes, Libel tourism. However, has she noticed that the issue of no win, no fee methods of...

For a libel action to be successfully mounted in the United Kingdom, there would have to be a libel in the UK. All the laws in the world passed by the United States cannot stop that happening. Would the hon. Gentleman not agree?

For a libel action to be successfully mounted in the United Kingdom, there would have to be a libel in the UK. All the laws in the world passed by the United States cannot stop that happening. Would the hon. Gentleman not agree?

Why?

Why?

Croydon, South.

Croydon, South.

I seem to be in a minority in not being subject or party to a libel action, so I do not speak with any experience. My hon. Friend—excuse me, the hon. Gentleman—makes a useful contribution. [Interruption.] He is now an ex-Friend, but he is still a personal friend. The media...

I seem to be in a minority in not being subject or party to a libel action, so I do not speak with any experience. My hon. Friend—excuse me, the hon. Gentleman—makes a useful contribution. [Interruption.] He is now an ex-Friend, but he is still a personal friend. The media...

The right hon. Gentleman may say nay—

The right hon. Gentleman may say nay—

I congratulate the Government on introducing that measure—I think it was this Government that introduced it—because it allows the individual a chance to fight back if he feels that his privacy has been breached or that he has been libelled. My hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath spoke about...

I congratulate the Government on introducing that measure—I think it was this Government that introduced it—because it allows the individual a chance to fight back if he feels that his privacy has been breached or that he has been libelled. My hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath spoke about...

The right hon. Gentleman repeats points that he made in his speech. What the Americans do and how they conduct themselves in the courts is entirely a matter for them. The Front-Bench spokesman, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier), knows far more about the libel...

The right hon. Gentleman repeats points that he made in his speech. What the Americans do and how they conduct themselves in the courts is entirely a matter for them. The Front-Bench spokesman, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier), knows far more about the libel...

I join others in congratulating the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane) on securing this debate. It has been a particularly high-quality debate, but the battle lines have been drawn. The right hon. Member for Rotherham and my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), with their...

I join others in congratulating the right hon. Member for Rotherham (Mr. MacShane) on securing this debate. It has been a particularly high-quality debate, but the battle lines have been drawn. The right hon. Member for Rotherham and my hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), with their...

There is a world of difference between complaining about the activities of a firm of solicitors in conducting its business and calling on the Law Society to investigate, but I will let the matter rest there. Perhaps I should have declared at the outset my interest as a practicing solicitor,...

There is a world of difference between complaining about the activities of a firm of solicitors in conducting its business and calling on the Law Society to investigate, but I will let the matter rest there. Perhaps I should have declared at the outset my interest as a practicing solicitor,...