Mr Patrick Wall: My right hon. Friend has observed that a levy is paid on British fish if they are landed in Spain. The flags of convenience vessels can send their fish by lorries to Spain and pay no levy either in Spain or in Britain. Is Spain potentially a large market for British fish and is there any truth in the report in the press that if the Bill is enacted trade at Falmouth, which was mentioned...
Mr Patrick Wall: My hon. Friend, whose constituency lies in the south-west, knows more about this subject than I do. I was repeating an article that appeared in The Times. I should like to hear the facts confirmed or denied. The subject of what happens when Spain joins the EC has been raised already. Spain will presumably have a quota. As my right hon. Friend the Minister said, Spain has historic rights....
Mr Patrick Wall: Has Spain any historic rights in our waters?
Mr Patrick Wall: Having listened to the speech of the right hon. Member for Barnsley (Mr. Mason), one would have thought that everything had been caused by the Government. He seems never to have heard of world recession. There was no mention of the fact that every European country has been affected by the recession. There was no mention of the fact that Britain now has the lowest inflation rate since the...
Mr Patrick Wall: The right hon. Member for Barnsley (Mr. Mason) said that he could have negotiated a better deal. He was Minister responsible for fisheries for a long time and he singularly failed to do that. The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that there has been a complete change in the industry from distant water to inshore. He is right to say that that change is caused by external factors which...
Mr Patrick Wall: I do not know how many times the industry approached the last Government, but I know that it got four times more from the Conservative Government than from the Labour Government. Furthermore, as the Minister has said, far more trawlers went out of commission under the Labour Government than under the Conservative Government—certainly in my ports. The background to the debate must be...
Mr Patrick Wall: It is not perfect—nothing is perfect in this world—but it is good. It would be marvellous if we could return to the days before the cod war, but history cannot be reversed. I believe that the agreement is the best possible in the circumstances. Under the agreement, the quotas give us viability for the next 20 years. That will have a stabilising effect on the industry. We have an overall...
Mr Patrick Wall: Of course, the industry then was asking for a 12-mile exclusive limit and preferential access for 50 miles. That was not obtained by the Labour Government or wholly by the present Government but we have achieved the best we possibly could under the circumstances. I say again that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Ministers responsible who have at last achieved this agreement...
Mr Patrick Wall: Will my right hon. Friend assure the House that the Humberside distant water fleet has been compensated for its loss of third country fishing grounds? If not, will my right hon. Friend give that matter further consideration?
Mr Patrick Wall: I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the firm stand that he took at Brussels. If, unfortunately, national measures have to be introduced by the other members of the Common Market, can he guarantee that there will be no nonsense about fishing up to the beaches and that the Danes will not exceed their authorised quota?
Mr Patrick Wall: Is not one of the lessons that of the inadequacy of our ships' surface-to-airdefences, and are plans being made to fit lightweight Sea Wolf to all our warships to combat missiles?
Mr Patrick Wall: Have we not been generous to the Danes already? If they do not accept the agreement and we have to take national measures, is it intended that they should be allowed to fish up to the quotas already allocated, or will they be banned from our waters altogether?
Mr Patrick Wall: The House will wish to congratulate my right hon. Friend and the Minister of State on a successful fight that has brought us within an ace of a common fisheries policy that is acceptable to the industry. I understand that 73 per cent. of the six to 12-mile zone will be reserved for British fishermen. What percentage of water outside the 12-mile limit will be available to British fishermen?...
Mr Patrick Wall: asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the development of a common fisheries policy.
Mr Patrick Wall: Has not an undertaking been given that the two destroyers and the two frigates lost in the Falklands will be replaced? When will the replacements be ordered?
Mr Patrick Wall: As the settlement of the common fisheries policy has again been delayed, will my right hon. Friend explain to the House the exact legal position that we shall face next year concerning fishing up to the beaches? I do not expect him to go into details, because obviously he will wish to keep his hand covered.
Mr Patrick Wall: At the beginning of his speech the right hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Dr. Owen) spoke about the ships in the Royal Navy whose retention has already been decided upon. He expressed the view that has been expressed on both sides of the House today, that more of the ships detailed for the scrapheap in the 1981 cuts should be reprieved. He also said that that will have a considerable...
Mr Patrick Wall: I accept what my hon. Friend says. However, I believe that we should concentrate on SSNs and leave the Dutch, the Germans and others to concentrate on conventional submarines. I do not believe that we should do both. I am not happy about some of the plans that are being made to try to do both. Having seen the facilities at Plymouth, I am concerned about the refuelling capabilities of our...
Mr Patrick Wall: When does my hon. Friend expect the first type 23 frigate to be commissioned? The Select Committee discussed the matter. British Shipbuilders said 1986 and the Admiralty 1988. Since then the Secretary of State has advanced the date.
Mr Patrick Wall: Is my right hon. Friend aware that the veto may prove essential for the future of the British fishing industry? Will she look personally into the question of the common fisheries policy?
