---

Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I have a strong suspicion that the noble Duke will be here for as long as I am—and the rest of us, probably. Before we sent the Bill to the Commons, we patted each other on the back and thanked everyone, so I do not think we want to go too far into that again. If people are doing that, however, I repeat my thanks to everyone. If I have any pride, it is for the team of people behind me on these Benches and for their expertise, which was superb. We all did a good job on the Bill. However, I am reminded of what Lord Dahrendorf said to me several times at dinner in the Home Room. We were talking about improving the communications of the House, and about publicising what we do here. He was totally against publicising what we did in this House. He thought that we really ought to keep it secret, because if people outside, particularly in the House of Commons, ever discovered what we did, they would put a stop to it very quickly. There may be some truth in that. There has been concern about Amendment 4. In a sense, it is a pity that we did not have it as the Bill was going through this House so that we could scrutinise it properly, but we are where we are. I am advised by my colleagues in the House of Commons that they think that the balance in the Bill between conservation and fishing is as good as it can be, even if it is not ideal for everyone. Who am I to argue with them, at least on this issue?