Merchant Shipping Pollution Bill [HL]

That is fine. On the issue of the supplementary fund timetable as we hope it will run, although obviously it is in the hands of Parliament and the usual channels, we look to see Royal Assent given to the Bill by December 2005. That would bring us to January 2006. One week after Royal Assent, the Order in Council will be passed to the Clerk of the Privy Council for Her Majesty to consider. In February the order will be laid before Parliament, and from February to March we hope that the UK will accede to the Supplementary Fund Protocol, while from May to June the protocol would enter into force; that is, some three months after accession. So long as there is goodwill in both this House and another place, we hope that the timetable I have outlined will result in the earliest possible conclusion.