Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Bill [HL]

My Lords, if what the noble Lord says is true, it is something of a disgrace. Whoever has caused the pollution has not paid for it and has allowed other people to do so. So far as the affected coastlines are concerned and the devastation to the lives of fishermen and the tourist industry, people wish to move as quickly as possible at least to clear up the mess; the mess gets worse the longer it is left. If this legislation is to have any teeth it must be on the basis that either you join the club, pay insurance and belong to the protocol, or you do not join the club. I am therefore anxious that when the noble Baroness, Lady Crawley, winds up this debate she tell us whether the Bill is intended to apply sanctions to people who, after reasonable time, have either not taken insurance or not contributed to the fund which is available. There is another matter that I would like the Minister to address. I have referred to this Bill as a tiny Bill. It is dealing with some problems. They are the sorts of problems which hit the headlines, but if my figures are correct—I stand to be corrected—over the   past seven years there have been something like 500 serious pollution incidents in British waters. I believe that only 10 of these have gone to court. I would like to know how easy it is to detect pollution and why so few cases come to court. Are there further defects in maritime law which need to be attended to and to which we should return as soon as possible to deal with what is a serious problem? I want to underline the fact that, as the Government tighten up the domestic laws relating to the disposal of rubbish in this country, the temptation to those who are going near or over the edge of the law is always to dump the odd load over the side rather than pay what will be increasing charges to clear away refuse while they are in port. In winding up our debate, I would like the Minister to try to attend to those matters. As I have said, this is a small Bill to which we will happily give our support but it is an area which is a concern to most of us. With that, I give the Bill Godspeed.