§ '. The Secretary of State shall authorise the use of information in the records maintained under section 45(6B) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 for the purposes of any inquiry into a road traffic accident in which death or serious injury occurs, and shall maintain a record of all such incidents concerning vehicles for which an appropriate test certificate has not been issued:.—[Mr. Miller.]
§ Brought up, and read the First time.
§ Question proposed [this day], That the clause be read a Second time.
11.54 am§ Question again proposed.
§ Mr. MillerI am convinced that the public at large would disagree entirely with the point just made by the hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan). Surely to goodness the House regards the deaths of 3,000 people each year as somewhat more important than his trivial little Bill.
§ Mr. Andrew Robathan (Blaby)I watched the hon. Gentleman on the monitor, presenting his argument in a very slow, turgid manner. He showed no interest in the subject on Second Reading. Many people have written to me about referendums and about fur farming. They will know where to lay the blame for the fact that fur farming will not be prohibited in this country.
§ Mr. MillerOn the Conservative party.
Before the statement, I was responding to important comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Norfolk about matters relating to privacy. I shall not answer his point in full, as that would involve my expressing my personal view of the way in which matters of privacy should be dealt with in society, as the Government and the public service hold more and more co-ordinated data on individuals. I have strong views on that, which I would be prepared to share with my hon. Friend outside the debate.
We must remember that it is not vehicles with defects that cause death and serious injury; it is drivers. I am grateful for my hon. Friend the Minister's remarks about the research that is going on, and the ideas that that has given me for potential regulation within the scope of the Bill, if the research identifies a correlation which, I suspect, exists, as I said in my opening remarks.
My hon. Friend the Member for Hendon spoke of the possibility of MOTs being exchanged as part of the showing of particulars when there is a road traffic incident. That is an interesting point which the Minister may want to consider.
The debate has been helpful, and I hope the issues discussed will be taken on board by my hon. Friend the Minister. Bearing in mind the observations made by the promoter of the Bill, whose efforts I strongly support, and the assurances received from the Minister, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
§ Motion and clause, by leave, withdrawn