Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 5 Rhagfyr 1973.
I would put it the other way round. I am saying—because that is the question to which we are asked to address ourselves—that I am against the arrangements which we are called upon to approve. I do not know whether there is any profit in going back to 1966, when the desirability of exploring the possibility of a tunnel was discussed, but once the decision was taken I naturally supported it. But any subsequent decision must depend upon the nature of the scheme that one is asked to approve. Perhaps the Opposition would have taken a different view if the motion put down by the Government on 25th October had been framed in different terms, but it asked us not merely to support a tunnel but to support everything in the White Paper, which I was surprised the Minister himself could do. Certainly, I was surprised that a large number of hon. Members from Kent found themselves able to accept everything in it. But that was the issue before the House. The issue before us today goes much beyond that, because we shall be voting in principle for all that is in this Bill. However, I shall come to that in a moment.