Member

When we had the pleasure of meeting the Minister and civil servants working on the Bill, for which we are very grateful, we asked the civil servants how many SMEs they had consulted. They could not answer; they referred to how many stakeholders they consulted—that does not mean SMEs. All we have to date from the Government, in their fact sheet, by way of experts claiming to support this Bill is a don from Cambridge University. But, on closer examination, the professor is not an economist at all but a lawyer; he is a professor of law, not of economics. I am sure he is a top man in law, but it is telling that HMG did not seem to be able to find one economist to support their plans, let alone credible numbers from the SME field. Maybe, since that time, they have briefed the Minister on how many genuine SMEs have been specifically consulted on this Bill. If so, I would be very grateful if she could give us that number later.