Deep Sea Mining Bill

As my hon. Friend will be aware, the United States of America has not signed or ratified the agre...

I know that Secretary of State Clinton and the United States Administration were, as recently as ...

Speaking as an historian, I point out that in 1994 the United States got a modification to the co...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his expertise and for updating us.

As I have said, the ...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way again; she is being very generous in taking interventions. ...

I hope my hon. Friend will be patient, because I will come on to that later.

UNCLOS defines...

A mining process could lead to contamination of the sea, which might either contaminate the fish ...

Deep-sea mining takes place at great depth in specific areas of the ocean. I do not think that th...

I am most heartened by the hon. Lady’s response to the hon. Member for Dover (Charlie Elphicke) t...

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. I think the whole House will know how interested he ...

If I may assist my hon. Friend, I think that section 5 of the 1981 Act is pertinent to the point ...

That is very helpful. I am sure my hon. Friend can reassure the hon. Member for Brent North (Barr...

I must confess that, not for the first time this morning, I am slightly confused by what my hon. ...

No, it will not, because we already have the ISA granting contracts—I will come on to who holds c...

Rare earth metals are used in mobile telephones. I believe that there may be some such metals in ...

Absolutely. That is another point that I will address.

Following up on the intervention by my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies), is a c...

Companies in countries that are not signatories to UNCLOS would have to find a host that was a si...

I am interested to hear that there have been developments in this field this year. Will my hon. F...

I have received one e-mail requesting a meeting from WWF, which is very friendly towards the Bill...

Although my hon. Friend says that it does not involve any excavation, as I read the Bill, it does...

I will come on to that, but I can inform my hon. Friend that I was referring specifically to poly...

My hon. Friend drew a distinction between deep-sea mining and fracking. Will she confirm that fra...

We are talking about sourcing hydrocarbons, which I will move on to a little later in my speech. ...

My hon. Friend suggests that the industry is still in its infancy, and I appreciate that, but the...

I was not around in the House during the passing of the 1981 Act.

You weren’t born in 1981.

I have to confess that I was—a long time before, in fact.

All I can say to my hon. Friend t...

I am delighted to speak in this debate, which is important not simply because of the economic int...

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the polymetallic nodules are golf ball-size spheres that occur i...

Let me give the hon. Lady the assurance that I am sure the Bill will pass on Second Reading. I ha...

Does the hon. Gentleman intend to present evidence on any matters that would affect the issue of ...

As the Minister knows, few licences have been granted since the 1981 Act took effect, so I would ...

There are always uncertainties, so the precautionary principle would mean that we never did anyth...

That is a very interesting interpretation of the precautionary principle—that because misgivings ...

It is a great pleasure, as always, to follow the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), wh...

Has my hon. Friend identified the contradiction in what the hon. Member for Brent North (Barry Ga...

My hon. Friend is right. There is a contradiction in that position. It is interesting to ask at w...

Does my hon. Friend endorse the words of our former colleague, Teddy Taylor, who said in the deba...

I read those comments, although I am sure that with the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that this country has always been a world leader in oceanographic studi...

It is true that this nation has been a world leader in exploring the world. As an island nation w...

Does my hon. Friend agree that that could have been because discussions were taking place about t...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Indeed, I was coming on to say that my understanding was prec...

The hon. Gentleman just used the important word: “hard” mineral resources. The Bill would excise ...

I cannot give any assurances about that; it is not for me to do that. I know that the hon. Gentle...

Does my hon. Friend agree that we had to pass an Act of Parliament even though we were a member o...

I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing up the matter of the European Union. I was...

Does my hon. Friend share my view that it is a pity so to tidy up the statute book as to remove t...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and this is a case in point. The House was given all sorts of...

It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall), who, as usual, ...

Some of the cone-shaped polymetallic nodules are alive and smoking, and certain marine creatures ...

My hon. Friend has far more expertise in this field than me, and I am grateful to her for that cl...

In a similar vein, does my hon. Friend not think there will be some difficulty in establishing wh...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I hope that such detailed questions, which go way beyond m...

I agree to a certain extent with what the hon. Gentleman says, but what if the damage is so signi...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving me more credit than I am due. I was not claiming a...

Does my hon. Friend think there is any merit in the international community, through the auspices...

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and it should be considered. Again, the Minister may be a...

Order. The hon. Gentleman is making a conscientious application to serve on the Bill Committee, w...

I am very grateful to you for highlighting my pitch for me, in a far more eloquent way than I was...

I am concerned that my hon. Friend might have been tempted down a dangerously internationalist pa...

I certainly agree with that. I am not sure that what my two hon. Friends are saying is necessaril...

Does my hon. Friend share my concern that perhaps one reason why so few licences have been applie...

My hon. Friend makes a good point, and we certainly would not want what he describes to have been...

It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friends the Members for Shipley (Philip Davies) and for ...

Is my hon. Friend saying that, given the lack of support for internationalism, so to speak, we sh...

That is an exciting way of looking at it—to adopt a real free-market approach, which allows compa...

Order. I am all agog at the racy and intoxicating oration that the hon. Gentleman is delivering t...

Because so many other Members are keen to speak in the debate, I shall keep my remarks short. I k...

My hon. Friend knows that I agree with him about this, and in my time I have unsuccessfully tried...

If only that were true. I would hope that Bills would be repealed at any time, but sadly the Hous...

This will be an even longer stint.

Then Mr Deputy Speaker will no doubt be pleased that I will try to entertain him for at least par...

It is a privilege to follow the hon. Member for North East Somerset (Jacob Rees-Mogg). With you h...

He would have been all at sea.

I suspect that he would have been.

I congratulate the hon. Member for South East Cornwall (...

On the question of policing, does the hon. Gentleman think that the present provision in section ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention. It raises the question of how the inspectors ca...

I am sure that my hon. Friend will understand that the provision of inspectors relates more to th...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to provide that distinction. Again, without wishing to put pre...

I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. Does he think the primary responsibility for the ...

At the end of the day, we are passing legislation that must meet the needs of mining companies an...

It is a great pleasure to be able to respond to the debate. I begin, of course, by congratulating...

But I know you will not.

As I think the House knows well, Bury North is not only a constituency that I was proud to repres...

Will my hon. Friend give way?

Indeed.

Order. Before the Minister gives way, it may help if I say that we are not going to have a love-i...

I will take the Minister’s good wishes back to Bury, but to return to the Bill, does he agree tha...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I remember—he will know this from first-hand knowledge—how wi...

Order. I am now intervening. It is a great temptation to listen to the Minister talk about the wo...

With that admonition, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will leave the subject of Bury North when I have remin...

Order. I will help the Minister. I do not want to hear about football or about Bury, and certainl...

I am very pleased to move on.

Not as pleased as I am.

I should like to set out responses to the Bill, which was introduced by my hon. Friend the Member...

rose—

I will answer colleagues’ questions in due course, but I am happy to take an intervention now.