§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will take steps to ensure that the Royal Navy has control over shipping lanes in the English Channel in the same way as supervision over risky and dangerous cargoes is exercised by the French Navy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Clinton Davis,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6th December 1978; Vol. 959, c. 709], gave the following information:
762WActing on behalf of my Department, Royal Navy aircraft already have a role in the Dover Strait in identifying vessels that contravene the international collision regulations. My Department works in close consultation with the French authorities on these matters and has formulated an experimental scheme for the reporting-in of tankers and other ships carrying dangerous cargoes but we do not consider that the Royal Navy should attempt to control the passage of merchant ships in such schemes.