Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

Amendment A136 is tabled in my name, although the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, spoke to it in passing so there is no need for me to repeat what he said. It has been shot down by heavy flak from my noble friend Lady Young and the Liberal Democrat Front Bench. As for the Sandford principle, we must remember that the Bill will stand for quite a long time before we have another marine Bill, and with power supplies probably becoming scarcer as time goes on, there could well be situations where the Secretary of State will have to give precedence to power generation sources. It would inhibit the Government somewhat at the moment to write the Sandford principle into the Bill.