Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: As I have described the board, it would represent a balance and a mixture of interests. It would be right to include in that mixture expert advice from people close to the scene who have considerable experience of personal injury problems and who know how the injured have suffered. That is an imperative in arriving at what we consider to be the just financial awards. The Solicitor-General...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: We have never claimed and neither do we in the Bill that actuarial evidence is the answer to everything. What we have said is that Pearson and the recommendations of the Law Commission said that a set of actuarial tables had been specifically drawn up for use in personal injury litigation. That is the heart of the Bill. Pearson said that the tables were drawn up by a committee that included...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: It is now 13 years since that amount was fixed. Does the Solicitor-General not think that section 1A(5) should be rewritten to include a figure which we consider fitting when taking account of inflation and increasing costs during that period?
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The hon. Gentleman has made a point which comes from a vested interest. He emphasised that the profits of insurance companies will not decrease. Opposition Members understand that. I have been fair in offering time for an adjustment by the insurance companies of their premiums. I do not believe that it will deter people from taking insurance. We are simply trying to legislate for reasoned...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I beg to move, that the Bill be now read a Second time. I should like to place on record my appreciation and gratitude to all those who assisted in drafting the Bill, especially Mr. Henry Witcomb, who helped me in a first-class manner and who represents the noble cause promoted by Citcom. I should like to thank also the Bill's sponsors, many of whom are well known for fighting for civil...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: That is an important point. As I progress through my case, we shall see that the hon. Gentleman's comments are extremely relevant. My first case is that of Keith Blackburn, who suffered brain damage as a result of a medical accident. His case was finally resolved in August last year after a 12-year fight against the health authority responsible. His parents, who sued on his behalf, used...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: It is detestable for the system to operate in that way. The logic of contributing national insurance payments is that they are an investment for times when things go wrong or for specific benefits such as pensions. We cannot allow such a provision. To say that in supporting my Bill one would be allowing the payment of double compensation is nonsense. If one has contributed into a fund, one...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: My right hon. Friend is right. We are dealing with a non-political issue. All hon. Members today want to give their maximum attention to the debate and did not envisage that such an anomaly might be created by the Government in the Social Security Bill. The Bill will have a direct and adverse effect on the matters that we are discussing today and on the benefit system. Judgments seem to be...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: My right hon. Friend has made a valid point. I was astonished by some of the things that the insurance companies said in their brief. I do not know why they are so afraid of the Bill. Anyone would think that the directors of the insurance companies would be paying the money out of their own pockets. I am sure that there will be no deduction from their salaries if they accept the reasonable...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: My Bill would certainly help them, although we must see what happens to clause 18 of the Social Security Bill. The asbestos industry has been suspect for many years and the trade unions have fought hard to gain recognition of the problem by the industry and to obtain for their members benefits and awards for industrial disablement. Some awards have been made, and I intend to ensure that the...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I am aware of that, and later in my speech I shall deal briefly with the Scottish law because its damages awards are far better than ours. I thank the hon. and learned Gentleman for drawing that to the attention of the House. My belief that juries would award higher levels of compensation is borne out by awards made by juries in Northern Ireland. Before their abolition in August 1987, in the...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: That is the yardstick that they seem to be using and obviously they have no scruples because some of the letters that I have received from insurance companies are precisely in line with what my hon. Friend has just said. As I have said, in both the cases that I quoted there was a 50 per cent. increase in the awards. I have no desire to see in Britain the high awards that are often made in...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: That is obviously an emotional issue, and people who have to endure that sort of searching out and assessment suffer psychologically. In some cases, a claimant's health has deteriorated simply because of that type of assessment. My hon. Friend makes a valid point. We all agree that the actuarial method is not foolproof. However, it is more likely to be accurate than the method that has been...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I have no doubt that the Minister will have read early-day motion 258, supported by 61 right hon. and hon. Members, asking for a specific and detailed inquiry by a Select Committee into the A to Z framework of the funeral industry. That motion quotes official figures from the Office of Fair Trading in the last three weeks showing that 75 per cent. of funeral directors ignore the very code of...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The hon. Gentleman has been paid off.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: May I declare an interest? On the question of the Queensberry rules, on 6 October a South African ship called the Fasiline Avra arrived at Killingholme. It had on board 26,500 tonnes of South African coal. It was bought by William Reed of Solid Fuels, associated with Simon Engineering, screened by Coalite and then sold to the CEGB by trickery and deception. That is the sort of tactic that...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I do not question your judgments, Mr. Deputy Speaker, on the various points of order that were raised before the hon. Member for Brigg and Cleethorpes (Mr. Brown) addressed the House. I know that you sympathise with some of the sentiments which were expressed against the background of personal, industrial and social objectives. I believe that the Bill should be opposed at all stages. I am...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I agree with rriy hon. Friend. I accept that figure. The Opposition are attempting to protect and promote British interests. That has been our approach throughout. I accept that the ports are sited strategically and that coal is not the only consideration. I welcome any expansion of the ports and the economy in and around them. I am merely arguing that there should be some protection. By and...
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: The Government would not have had a sittings motion without us.
Mr Lawrence Cunliffe: I was a member of the Committee that considered this legislation, and I know that at no time in the Committee's proceedings was it the Government's intention to pay compensation. They came along with an ill-prepared Bill that had not been properly thought out and conceived without any rational judgment about the various interests involved. I am opposed to anybody, with the exception of the...
