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Transport (Wales) Bill

moved Amendment No. 18:"Page 7, line 7, leave out subsection (2)." The noble Lord said: This is a probing amendment to explore the effect of the subsection on encouraging private industry to establish effective transport links. We are talking about air transport only, and I think most of us are familiar with the history of air transport in Wales and of the particular north-south journey that is envisaged by air transport in the Bill. Do the Government have any way of preventing the Assembly being seen as a source for easy money for projects that would fail to raise the necessary funds from private sources? As far as concerns this particular air journey from north to south, it has always been a subsidised service, and, even then, it has failed. Of course we all wish it to succeed for the future. There is no guarantee of that; in fact, history is very much against it. What provisions are to be laid down to ensure that the funded projects will meet a demand that would not otherwise be met? I hope the Minister will be able to reassure us on those points. I beg to move.