Speeches by Munt.

“I thank the Minister enormously for her explanation, and I am pleased that there is no intention to damage our trade in any way. We should boost trade of this well-known product with its unique qualities. My constituent would be particularly concerned about the level of sugar. I know I have asked some detailed question…”

“I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. I acknowledge the commitment shown by the wife of the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) to marmalade. The critical thing is that it is made from citrus. I have been to Fortnum & Mason—I will probably have to apologise to them tomorrow morning—and seen strawberry ma…”

“I am trying so hard to avoid more references to Paddington, but you are quite right.”

“At the end of October 2013, I led a debate on the regulation of jam, which caused a bit of a stir. It rightly warned of the end of the British breakfast as we know it. Thirteen years later, I have returned to discuss marmalade. Last July, a lady called Vivien Lloyd, who inspired the debate about jam, returned to see me…”

“I partially agree with the hon. Gentleman, although if we were part of the EU, we might find ourselves in the position of being able to influence that a little more. He is right to recognise that our jams, spreads and marmalades have a distinctive characteristic. Indeed, they are one of our largest exports to countries…”

“If I return to my question, do you feel that the SRA has the powers and competencies that it needs to regulate new technologies? I can see that you are working on it, but do you feel you have the powers? In the long run, for us this is about access to justice. I can understand how individual firms will populate AI with…”

“It is not going to stop, is it? There is no end point when you are going to go, “Okay, fine. Now we need this.””

“I have to say, I have some sympathy with Sir Ashley’s view; you are not able to flex that muscle to make changes. It is surprising to find out that 12% of firms are clearly not complying. That is a difficulty. Your organisation has stated that it is not opposed to reforming the Legal Services Act 2007, and that any fut…”

“You would have had discussions with the Ministry of Justice about that. Is that an open door?”

“On the subject of AI, do you feel you have the appropriate powers and competencies to regulate the new technologies and business models?”

“Who takes precedence? Who is right?”

“Thank you. I would now like to move to this: in its submission to the ongoing public bodies review of the LSB, the Legal Services Consumer Panel identified a number of consumer-facing reforms, such as meaningful quality indicators and comprehensive price transparency. Those, I understand, remain undelivered, so why is …”

“What levers do you have to make up that 12%?”

“So you are asking them to regulate themselves. Where is your place in this? What have you spotted that you feel should be dealt with?”

“How do you make them do that?”

“Sorry to interrupt you; why not?”

“Do you feel you have the powers and expertise to influence the improvement of services? If 12% of firms are not being open and transparent, and you are asking and asking them to do so but absolutely nothing is happening, then I sense that you do not have the power, but I might be wrong.”

“Are there any other areas of your remit where you fear you might find yourselves in the same situation going forward?”

“It was not.”

“That is absolutely fine; I accept that. How do you make the Law Society behave?”