Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)

My Lords, following the noble Baroness, I congratulate her on her work when this was a Private Member’s Bill, which I was able to contribute to in the debate, even though I was not in the country to contribute to the Second Reading of this Bill. I thank the Minister for her remarks. These Benches have been very supportive of the Bill. It is not the biggest of Bills, but it is necessary for the reasons the Minister gave. I thank Mohamed-Ali Souidi in our Whips’ Office for his support and for helping us on our way to knowing all the details of these elements. Following the noble Baroness, I say that this will no longer be a distraction or an issue to be discussed whenever UK representatives take part in international Commonwealth forums. I had the great privilege of serving on the executive committee of the CPA UK branch for a number of years, and I look forward to the AGM—I hope that many Members in the Chamber will be present and will support the CPA UK branch. In the upcoming CPA conference in New South Wales, the discussions among parliamentarians will be on the issues that the Minister raised—about the value and the benefit of the Commonwealth, rather than its status within the United Kingdom. So we support the Bill.