Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Bill [Lords]

I am grateful to the Minister for nodding, but he knows that I must put that point on the record in Hansard. I am aware that he swears that the legislation will not be used to implement the directive, and I believe him, but future Ministers will not necessarily share his scruples in similar situations, and the amendment would make it doubly certain that the porthole is locked and bolted. As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Kettering (Mr. Hollobone), we are not against criminalising intentional discharge. Appius Claudius, to whom I referred earlier, was condemned to death for impiety. However, accidental discharge does not demand punishment or prohibition unless it is the result of deliberate recklessness, which is especially true of punishment or prohibition conducted by one part of the world without reference to the other maritime states. I commend the amendment to the House.