Speeches by Munt.

“I have two fairly swift questions. I was going to ask you about legal expenses insurance. That is not so widely used. Would you be in favour of promoting a case for expanding its use or not?”

“Yes, and how they choose—so how general members of the public choose the provider that they need. That is brilliant. Thank you.”

“One of the questions is how much the public understands any of this: the regulators, their purposes and all the rest of it. In my view—and I do not know; I will ask you—that seems to be a signal of failure. If people do not understand, that is lost, is it not?”

“Maybe I have not picked this up somewhere, but that, no doubt, has been seen and I wondered whether there had been a response to your criticism.”

“Right. That is disappointing, is it not? You submitted some evidence—I think, Tom, it was you—that said that the regulators were reluctant to even consider how their levers might be used in a more creative manner. Why do you think this is? Why is it so flipping difficult?”

“You have touched on some of the things that I wanted to ask you anyway. If we are looking at the Legal Services Act 2007, the board and the approved regulators have an objective, which is to improve access to justice. I wondered how effective that has been. Your face says it all. I do not think we need to answer that q…”

“Hello. My name is Tessa Munt. I am the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills in Somerset. Everything is as per the register of interests, but I will highlight the fact that I am a director of WhistleblowersUK, which is a not-for-profit organisation. I am also the vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary grou…”

“I am just really interested. That is fine. It is a question for me to look at later. I know you said you were not speaking on behalf of the CJC in any way, but their report proposed an access to justice fund by hammering the profits of lawyers and third-party funders through conditional fee agreements and damages-based…”

“Can I drill down into the Swedish example? There would probably be no need, but do people therefore buy flights without insurance?”

“I know; I know.”

“People have it on travel insurance.”

“I have two fairly swift questions. I was going to ask you about legal expenses insurance. That is not so widely used. Would you be in favour of promoting a case for expanding its use or not?”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“T2. Earlier this month, I joined South Western Ambulance Service for a shift, which was an incredibly humbling experience. At the hospital, I met paramedic science students who told me that it is almost impossible for them to get a job: only eight of last year’s 120 paramedic science students got a job. The university …”

“Yes, and how they choose—so how general members of the public choose the provider that they need. That is brilliant. Thank you.”

“One of the questions is how much the public understands any of this: the regulators, their purposes and all the rest of it. In my view—and I do not know; I will ask you—that seems to be a signal of failure. If people do not understand, that is lost, is it not?”

“I could talk to him about the whistleblowing Bill and the independent office of the whistleblower. People should be able to reveal what they know and should tell the truth. It is shocking that we have to have legislation to tell people to tell the truth, but all this falls under the same remit: people should be free to…”

“Right. That is disappointing, is it not? You submitted some evidence—I think, Tom, it was you—that said that the regulators were reluctant to even consider how their levers might be used in a more creative manner. Why do you think this is? Why is it so flipping difficult?”

“Maybe I have not picked this up somewhere, but that, no doubt, has been seen and I wondered whether there had been a response to your criticism.”

“I thank the Minister greatly. Does he agree that it is timely, right now, for the Government to press ahead with the Public Office (Accountability) Bill? Amendment 23, which is blocking everything at the moment, seems to present a way through, and to ensure not only that we have transparency and openness but that the G…”