I thank the Minister for her response, but I must say to her that a letter will not do on the question of people at sea. Her Majesty’s Coastguard is exempted; others are not. It is as simple as that when it comes to saving life at sea. The evidential tests, and everything else the Minister referred to, will not be solved by a letter. The Government will need to bring forward an amendment to the Bill which deals with this situation, otherwise the confusion will continue. We all look forward to the letter, but it will not solve the problem the Minister was trying to solve when addressing the various questions raised about why others should feel protected when they are not exempted in the way the coastguard is. How will they operate when it comes to approaching a boat that is in trouble and full of, say, migrants or asylum seekers? We can only imagine what will be going through their minds. I am sure they will rescue people, but they should not be in the position of not knowing whether they are committing an offence by doing it. That is what the case will be. In certain situations, they actually will be committing an offence. It is not good enough. This matter should be solved by primary legislation, not by a letter, however well intentioned, from the Minister. It will have to be looked at.
I will also say to the Minister that some of the other things she was saying, about what will happen and who is doing what, are confusing. Let me give one example about the MoD and the Home Office. What is the line of command there, and who is in charge? Will a naval commander report to the Home Secretary on how it is operated? I do not think so. Again, this needs to be clarified. Who is controlling the Border Force? That will go through the Home Office, but
what will the MoD expect? The confusion is immense. It is a very real problem with which the Government are trying to deal, and we all appreciate that. I will withdraw the amendment but there is a lot of confusion, which needs to be resolved. The usual surefootedness of the Minister on a couple of those matters will require, as I say, more than warm words and a letter.