With the House of Commons in the middle of another well-deserved break (it is Whitsun after all) it was left to the Lords to provide last week’s memorable lines.

Obiter was particularly keen on a debate about claims management companies and the epidemic of cold calling and harassment from these fiends. Never let it be said our noble Lords do not exist in the real world. Indeed, Labour peer Lord Kennedy of Southwark explained he was well aware of text messages and calls from CMCs as ‘many noble Lords in the Bishops’ Bar, the Peers’ Guest Room and elsewhere in your Lordships’ House have told me’.

Obiter feels most of all for Baroness Scott of Needham Market. The Lib Dem former president outlined how many people are turning off their landline because of the intrusion of calls.

‘I recently moved to a new flat in London. I had a new phone connected and it was a mere 30 minutes before I received my first PPI call,’ she explained. ‘When the claims management industry gets your number faster than your husband does, things have come to a pretty pass.’