---

Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

My Lords, it is beyond reason to imagine that the board could not have considered a rapid turnaround. The ““Herald of Free Enterprise”” and similar ships would have followed the instructions of the board to the letter. That instruction undoubtedly was that the quicker the turnaround the better because it meant more profits; it meant a whole lot of things that the board would have thought were very desirable. That policy was undoubtedly against the public interest. Therefore, I conclude that senior management must have considered that policy. The crew would have followed those instructions. If they had not, they would have been fired. So, I ask my noble friend to consider with favour what this amendment seeks to address. It may be, of course, that there are issues which the amendment fails to address, but I shall not go into that. However it is worded, the impression given by my noble friend is absolutely right. There can be no doubt that at the highest possible level this issue was considered. I therefore believe that my noble friend the Minister owes the House the duty of addressing these important issues.