HOVERCRAFT BILL (Hansard, 25 July 1968)

§ LORD BESWICK
My Lords, I have it in command from Her Majesty the Queen to acquaint the House that Her Majesty, having been informed of the purport of the Hovercraft Bill, has consented to place Her interest, so far as it is concerned on behalf of the Crown, at the disposal of Parliament for the purposes of the Bill. I beg to move that this Bill be now read a third time.

§ LORD BESWICK
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill do now pass. Before the Question is put, may I say how very much I appreciate the way in which the noble Earl, Lord Kinnoull, and the noble Lord, Lord Kings Norton, have forgone their strongly held views in the general interests of this Bill. I know that they do so because they have at heart the development of this project. Although both they and, to a very minor extent, I, myself, feel that some of these words are open to argument, nevertheless the Bill itself is necessary, and I hope that it will now be allowed to pass.

§ THE EARL OF KINNOULL
My Lords, I should like to take this opportunity to wish the Hovercraft Bill every success in passing into law, and we hope it will be an effective law. I think it will be a comfort to all the thousands of passengers who have travelled on the S.R.N.6, and those who, we hope, will be travelling on the S.R.N.4, to know that at last their journey is legal, or will be when the orders are made. I recognise the difficulty of drafting this Bill and of trying 1270 to cover this very flexible new animal. It has, I believe, a tremendous potential, and I hope it will always be supported by the Government. I am still not happy about the definition, but I hope it will, in fact, prove to be a success. Finally, I should like to thank the noble Lord, Lord Beswick, for trying to meet our points in a very courteous way. One had the feeling that in many cases, but for his brief, he would have liked to accept our points.