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 Eric Ogden Mr Eric Ogden , Liverpool, West Derby 12:00, 5 Rhagfyr 1973

The hon. Gentleman has cleared my mind. He fought up to the last ditch but not in it. From the state of the benches it does not seem that any dramatic event will take place at 10 o'clock which might defeat the Bill.

I believe that there will be a Channel tunnel and that it will be a rail tunnel. We must have a tunnel as soon as possible. I wish we had one now. The fact is that we have not, but the sooner we get one the better I shall be pleased.

The Bill is the only Bill available, and and it is the only Bill to provide for a Channel tunnel of any form. The Labour Government progressed the Channel tunnel project, and if that Government had been returned in 1970 we may have brought forward at roughly this time a Channel Tunnel Bill. It would not, of course, have been this Bill. However, there would have been a Bill to provide the means of providing the tunnel.

The choice which we have at this date is this Bill and this tunnel or no Bill and no tunnel. It is no secret that I support the Bill. Of course, my support must be limited to verbal support. It cannot be carried into the Conservative Lobby. The result of the last Division on the Channel Tunnel shows that the Government do not need my help in the Lobby. I hope that the Bill will be given a Second Reading.

From the list of speakers and from the speeches which I have been able to hear, it seems that there are not so many hon. Members today who do not accept the tunnel as there were on another occasion in October. There are not so many Luddites around as there were on 25th October. Some hon. Members have accepted the point of view put forward by the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, West. There comes a time when, one having opposed a project, it must be accepted that the project will be carried by a majority. When that stage is reached efforts must be made to improve the Bill, the facilities it offers and the way it goes through. That seems now to be accepted by the Labour Front Bench and by many back benchers on both sides of the House.

The hon. Member for Middlesbrough, West referred to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Mr. Sheldon) and his contribution to the Committee proceedings on the Channel Tunnel (Initial Finance) Bill. My hon. Friend certainly took a great deal of the time of the House in those debates, but the Opposition benches were not entirely deserted. I remember making at least two interventions criticising him and supporting the Government. He was not completely alone all the time.

I turn now to what I presume is still the Liberal Party's bench in all its empty glory. It seems that the more Liberals there are the less space they take. The Liberal intervention last time—on 25th October—was directed more towards the Hove by-election than to the question of the Channel Tunnel. Now the Liberals find themselves in a particular position and they have to carry that through. But their absent support for their amendment at 20 minutes past eight is my impression of what they must think about it.

I said harsh things about the Opposition amendment on 25th October, but the Liberal Party's amendment today is a great deal worse. At least one thing can be said about the Liberal Party. If the Labour Party can make a mess, the Liberal Party can make an even worse mess. Any amendment which uses the word "exacerbate" is automatically out for me. If one cannot use plain words, then it is better to put down nothing at all. Wherever the Liberals are marching tonight, it is not towards the sound of gunfire or the Channel Tunnel.

I will not return the compliment which the Minister paid to me in October. I shall not try to embarrass him in any way. But he must be feeling that he has trodden the road of Channel Tunnel debates before and that it might be nice if he could turn to something else.