Channel Tunnel (Hansard, 24 October 1988)

§ 8. Mr. Corbett
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what meetings his Department has had with outside bodies in the last six months with regard to customs arrangements for the Channel tunnel.

§ The Minister for Public Transport (Mr. Michael Portillo)
The Department has been in regular contact with the other Departments concerned with frontier controls for the Channel tunnel, with the corresponding authorities of the French Government, and with Eurotunnel and British Rail.

§ Mr. Corbett
Does the Minister understand that those who use the high-tech tunnel will expect matching facilities from Customs and Excise? Will he confirm that on-board customs would improve the present inadequate vigilance at ports of entry for drugs, explosives and weapons and would cut journey time?

§ Mr. Portillo
The hon. Gentleman is right to stress the controls that will have to remain in place. I emphasise that section 12 of the Channel Tunnel Act 1987 requires on-train controls for services to points north of London, provided that British Rail can provide acceptable facilities.

§ Mr. Marlow
Will my hon. Friend accept that Customs and Excise controls are ineradicably linked with immigration controls and that both take place in much the same situation? Will he confirm to the House that immigration controls in this country are at the frontier, that we do not have internal immigration controls as other Community countries do, and that therefore it is vital that we have a proper and adequate scheme of immigration control at the frontier, whatever other European countries may feel?

§ Mr. Portillo
My hon. Friend is right to say that there are major differences between the systems of different countries. Our controls exist basically at the borders and are not internal controls based on identity cards. Community Governments have adopted a declaration that the Single European Act should not affect the rights of member states to take such measures as they consider necessary to control, among other things, traffic in drugs. There is no difficulty on these matters.

§ Mr. Wigley
Does the Minister accept that the worst possible thing would be a clogging up of trade in the vicinity of the entry to the tunnel, and that not only are on-train facilities needed, but that the provision of bonded warehousing away from south-east England and through traffic from the Irish Republic through Wales and England to the tunnel and Europe must be considered? Can he assure the House that all those aspects are being considered?

§ Mr. Portillo
I can assure the hon. Gentleman about that. He will know that, under section 40 of the Channel Tunnel Act, British Rail is obliged to consult the regions on what facilities should be provided for through services. Those consultations are under way and working groups have been established in each region, one for passengers and one for freight. The result of those deliberations will be made known towards the end of next year.

§ Mr. Snape
Will the Minister confirm that on-train customs and immigration facilities are customary between countries such as East and West Germany, France and Switzerland and, most remarkably, between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic? As those facilities are so widely available, will the Minister and the Secretary of State for Transport do what they can to overcome the Prime Minister's xenophobia and not allow themselves to be distracted by the similar xenophobia of the hon. Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow)? Let us have proper facilities for passengers using the tunnel.

§ Mr. Portillo
My hon. Friend the Member for Northampton, North (Mr. Marlow) made the pertinent point that we have different systems. The balance of probability would seem to be that there will be frontier controls at Waterloo for trains terminating in London and on-train controls for trains going further than London. That has yet to be confirmed, because discussions on that subject are continuing.