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Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill

I think we need to go back to first principles. This Government rescued this project. If it had not been for John Prescott, when he was Secretary of State with responsibility for this, we would not be where we are now with High Speed 1 and this important cross-channel rail link speeded up on the UK side. There has been no lack of commitment from the Government on this project. The noble Lord raised a valid question about the international government agreement. We always look to perfect these things, and discussions continue. It is important that we do as much as we can to encourage better freight use of this line. I cannot be clearer than that. That is where we are in terms of our policy objectives. I understand some of the frustrations experienced by those who quite rightly lobby on behalf of getting more freight on to our network, but we are doing our best. What goes on in Marsham Street might be a mystery to the noble Lord, but I can speak with confidence when I say that we in Marsham Street are determined to make sure that we get best value from this line. It is a superb piece of rail engineering, and we want to ensure that in future it operates well commercially, in a commercial framework, and delivers what we expect in getting more passengers on to the rail network and, over time, building up and strengthening the freight sector.