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Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill

I return to the points raised by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley. It appears that the Bill, which I have heard described as a nasty little Bill in places, simply prepares the ground for the Government to sell assets which have been acquired at public expense. The Government will say that that will be at the best price, but it is in fact a Bill preparing for sale. The Government believe that that sale is on the best terms. In order for this situation to come into being, the Government have decided that the line will be subject not to the powers of the independent regulator but to those of the Secretary of State. I find it quite objectionable that a railway in this country should not be subject to the powers of the independent regulator. However, it may interest the Minister to know that, in the past 24 hours, I have had lunch with serious bidders for this piece of infrastructure. They are long-term bidders, unlikely to disappear into the dust as fast as they emerge, and interested in buying it to retain it as a railway and fully exploit its potential. They were quite adamant that they would be much happier if it were subject to independent regulation rather than the whim of the Secretary of State, whoever he may be in the future. So if the Government are trying to secure the best price, it can be secured by making the line subject to independent regulation. Secondly, I draw the report of the European Union Committee on the single market to the Minister’s attention. Although I was not party to that report, I am now a member of that committee and have had a copy of the response from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. In it, the Government say that they believe, "““that Member States should commit themselves to greater independence for national competition and regulatory authorities, and agree to regular independent evaluation, which could be undertaken by the Commission, to benchmark national competition regimes””." Furthermore, the document says that the Government would like to see greater regulatory co-operation across the EU: "““A flexible regulatory framework will require greater regulatory coordination and consistency coupled with a robust process for reaching agreement on cross-border issues””." I submit to the Committee that in fact there is much more likelihood of the Office of Rail Regulation reaching agreement with comparable operators on the Continent than there is of the Government reaching agreements with other Governments, which of course is subject to a good deal of political vicissitude.