Channel Tunnel Rail Link (Supplementary Provisions) Bill

I very much agree with that point and will address it later in my comments, which are not long so the hon. Gentleman will not have long to wait. I appreciated an earlier intervention about the disappointing amount of rail freight using the channel tunnel, so I am interested in the Bill's implications for freight. There is a general perception that, rightly or wrongly, one of the difficulties in increasing the amount of rail freight using the tunnel has been the conflicting interests within the SNCF, as both owner and provider of rail services. As the Minister is aware, other freight operators, such as EWS, are extremely frustrated at their inability to get access to the channel tunnel for the services they want to run. Given the restructuring of the project—the separation into different packages of the track, operations and property—it would be exceedingly interesting to know how possible conflicts of interest will be addressed, as it is perfectly possible that somebody could be an investor in more than one of the pieces. The ongoing frustration that we hoped was coming to an end could thus continue, so I shall be interested in the Minister's comments on the issue. I am sure the Minister agrees that freight is an important concern for all of us, especially with climate change in mind, and that the need to shift freight from road to rail is extremely pressing and would have general benefit.