Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

We have done so without any filibustering from me, and for that reason if for no other, I am grateful to all those who have taken part in the debate. I am particularly grateful for the comments made by the noble Baroness, Lady Young, which go to the heart of what the debate on the first few parts of this Bill will be about. That is because there are conflicts about the concept of this organisation, so we need to understand the issues. The Joint Committee said that the purpose of the organisation is ambiguous, so I do not apologise for raising this essential issue at the beginning of our consideration; it will be a thread that runs through all our debates. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, that, although I have been fighting the Conservatives for most of my political life, that fight, because of the area I come from, has been nothing like as hard as my fight with the Labour Party. It is also true that some acronyms become household terms—the BBC is a good example. That reminded me of the acronym SDP which was very successful from the branding point of view, although whether the SDP was successful in other ways is something on which noble Lords will have views. However, most acronyms are used only by the members of elite or specialist groups who know about their area. That is a fact of life. If this organisation becomes known as the MMO, 95 per cent of the population will not have the slightest idea what it stands for. I have to say that if the Scottish Parliament is going to call its body Marine Scotland, it understands the skill behind naming organisations rather better than whoever came up with Marine Management Organisation. This body is going to be a quango operating alongside the Environment Agency and Natural England, to name two obvious examples. However, terrestrial quangos, if I can call them that, operate in environments filled with people who champion their causes. We have parish, district and county councils, regional bodies, Members of Parliaments and all sorts of other organisations whose job is to promote issues. The sea is used by people who value the marine environment and economy, but of course do not live there. They go out to sea and then come back to where they live. That is a particular reason why the Marine Management Organisation, despite its clumsy title, has to be a champion of the seas.