CONDUCT OF LORD SIMON AND SALE OF BP SHARES

leave out from 'House' to end and add 'notes its great pleasure that Lord Simon, businessman of the year in 1996, joined the new Government after many successful years with one of Britain's major companies, BP, that he has taken all the relevant steps to ensure that no conflict of interest arises in his ministerial role, including resigning as Chairman and a Director of BP, that he is not involved in any government business which covers BP activity, nor does he receive any papers that have a bearing on BP, that he has complied fully with the requirements of the Questions of Procedure for Ministers and the Register of Lords' Interests, the guidance for which does not require listing all shareholdings, that the point of the Register is to ensure that any potential interest is in the public domain, that his shareholding in BP is a matter of public records, and that the action of the Opposition suggests that what they really object to is that a senior, successful and respected businessman has become a Labour Minister.'.