---

Civil Aviation Bill

My Lords, one of the principal virtues of the amendment moved by the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, is that it would impose no new burdens or imposts on the British taxpayer. That is an important point to emphasise. The present position is, of course, entirely unsatisfactory, as my noble friend the Minister has admitted. He has said that he hopes, perhaps somewhat optimistically, that the ICAO discussions will have an acceptable outcome. We are light years away from that situation. The ICAO special group considered that two separate, unlinked treaties might have to come into operation. As has been noted, one is associated with terrorism. Because of that, it would be subject to the approval of this Parliament and, presumably, many other Parliaments. Can we afford to wait? That is the question that the noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, has posed. Perhaps an initiative taken by us would spur others to get a move on. Why cannot we say in the legislation that our proposal will come into effect X years from now? That would give an indication of our bona fides. I understand that the proposed regime already applies to ship owners. Why should the protection afforded not also apply to aircraft? The Minister said that the position for shipping was entirely irrelevant. Will he kindly explain why? I neither understand nor accept that. The noble Lord, Lord Hanningfield, raised a basic question, which remains unanswered. He posed it again tonight. He asked why airlines should bear any responsibility for terrorist attacks. That remains a vital and unanswered question. I support the amendment.