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Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Bill [Lords]

I agree with the hon. Gentleman that prevention is vital. The phasing out of single-skinned vessels and their replacement with double-skinned ones is proceeding at a pace and needs to continue, but I do not believe that the Bill is an appropriate vehicle for measures such as those he describes for this reason, which I will flesh out in a moment. It is important to get the Bill on the statute book as quickly as possible. Without it we are exposed, and if there were a serious accident, we might be unable to compensate people as fully as they ought to be compensated. Were we to move ahead with preventive measures in the same Bill, there would have to be further debate. Even if at the end of that debate we all agreed on those measures, there would be areas of controversy that would have to be resolved, which would delay the legislation getting on to the statute book. That is why we have gone for a precise target with the Bill. We have not tried to include things that are equally important or, as the hon. Gentleman suggests, perhaps even more so. As I said, we have deliberately produced a precise, targeted Bill to deal with specific problems that relate to pollution from ships. In particular, we have provided for considerable additional compensation in the event of oil pollution around our coast. I shall go on to explain that further, but because such a large amount of compensation rests on this legislation, it is important to keep the Bill as focused as possible. That has resulted in a small Bill, which I hope we can get on the statue book as soon as possible.