HC Deb 14 July 1986 vol 101 cc668-9
6. Mr. John Hunt

asked the Secretary of State for Transport when he will make available the report on the impact of the proposed Channel tunnel on Kent.

The Minister of State, Department of Transport (Mr. David Mitchell)

The preliminary assessment report was published on 11 July, and copies have been placed in the Library. The second stage of the study will build on this initial report.

Mr. Hunt

As one who supports and applauds the decision on the Channel tunnel, may I ask my hon. Friend, in the context of the report, whether he has yet made any assessment of the likely effect of the construction of the cross-Channel link upon employment opportunities in Kent in the years immediately ahead?

Mr. Mitchell

During construction we expect an average of about 3,000 people to be employed on the project. About half of them will be recruited locally. In addition, there will be a substantial number of jobs north of Watford as a result of the purchasing of about £900 million worth of goods, many of them from the engineering sector.

Mr. Aitken

Now that the Japanese banks and the French investors have rather sensibly welshed on their commitment to produce even the first £200 million of equity for this $6 billion project, surely it is time to consider whether it is right for the taxpayer to continue to pay the bills for such expensive reports as the "Kent Impact Study", important though that is. Has not the time come to say that no more parliamentary time or public money should be spent on the project until the business men behind Eurotunnel have re-established their lost financial credibility?

Mr. Mitchell

My hon. Friend has somewhat exaggerated the position, and not for the first time. The timing of the decision when to go to the market for further equity is entirely a matter for the commercial judgment of the promoters and their professional advisers. They have decided that it will be best for them to do that after the holiday season, and that seems to make a lot of sense.

Mr. Robert C. Brown

Will the Minister start to understand that this monstrous scheme will have a severe impact on areas other than Kent? When will he decide to take the advice of his hon. Friend the Member for Thanet, South (Mr. Aitken) and scrap the whole damned nonsense?

Mr. Mitchell

The hon. Gentleman is misled to the extent that his fellow right hon. and hon. Members took a judgment on the matter by a vote of 309 to 44. I do not think that he should cast these aspersions on his colleagues and let them go unanswered.