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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, it would be churlish not to acknowledge the Minister’s response to the amendment and the good faith in which he has demonstrated his commitment to an ecologically coherent network. However, I hope he will accept that there is a strong body of opinion in the House that it is very important to make it quite clear that an ecologically coherent network must be part and parcel of the method of marine conservation that the Bill sets up. I hope to avoid coming back to this at Third Reading, but to be able to debate government amendments on this subject would be extremely satisfactory. Should we have the Minister’s proposed solution, I hope he will note that laying a statement before Parliament so that Parliament can distrust its nature is an important part of the process. Given that we have had a very favourable response from the Minister, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 114 withdrawn.