Orders of the Day — Channel Tunnel Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 5 Rhagfyr 1973.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Mr Keith Speed Mr Keith Speed , Meriden 12:00, 5 Rhagfyr 1973

"Trinity" is really the word. The authority will act as the head and the boards as the hands in their respective countries. That is perhaps the easiest way of describing it. It is the boards, and I will have more to say about them in a moment, which will be the entities with which the ordinary person will be dealing legally—the British Board for those in this country, the French Board for those in France.

Part III establishes the British Board, defines its general powers and duties and contains provisions of an administrative and financial nature with respect to the board. The general provisions relating to the board are closely based on those establishing other nationalised transport boards, with due allowance for the bi-national nature of the project, and the minority participation of the private interest. I would, however, draw particular attention to two provisions.

First, Clause 13, together with the provisions of the agreements on "handover", provides for the transfer to the board of the completed tunnel. In addition, however, subsection (4) of Clause 13 provides that after the transfer any third party suffering personal injury or damage will be able to sue the board, without having to establish which of the various parties involved in the construction of the tunnel was responsible. The board, however, can under subsection (5) recover its costs from whoever was in fact responsible. This should be a real protection to third parties in a situation of considerable complexity.