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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

It is hard to argue with the noble Baroness’s introduction of the amendment, but the MMO has such a multiplicity of functions that to single out this aspect, however key, may give it focus but limits the range and scope of the issues which the MMO will address. My noble friend Lord Eden gave voice to similar sentiments, and we heard similar expressions from the noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy. I am sure that we will return to many issues throughout our debates that will show the breadth of the Bill and the issue of marine conservation zones, as my noble friend Lord Eden mentioned. It may help to consider exactly what we mean by the public interest. More to the point, how can the public interest be determined in a democracy other than by Parliament? We therefore return again to the relationship, which we discussed during the passage of the Climate Change Act, between people, Parliament, government and a public body. We drew attention to this because we wanted to get right the relationship with the Committee on Climate Change. How right the noble Baroness was to draw attention to the key role of public opinion in helping to form the public interest there. I accept that she seeks to get this balance right in the rather different context of this Bill, but I hope that our work on the detail of the Bill will be the most effective way of achieving this.