Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, when the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, was talking about the need to think in commercial terms about privacy in coastal spots, I was thinking very clearly of nudist camps on the south coast, but I suspect that he is not talking about that on this occasion. We on these Benches and the Conservatives have some fundamentally different approaches to rights to privacy and access. I was almost humming "The Land" song— ""God gave the land to the people"—" as I went into the Lobby on the last occasion. As noble Lords know, we believe that public access is important here and that rights of access to the coast and the beautiful views that one gets from the coast should override the rights of privacy beyond a certain point. We are therefore opposed to strengthening the rights of landowners here. Given the difference between the coast and the landscape in general, it is not proper to put in the same sort of rights here as we have in other clauses. We are not willing to support the Conservative amendment, and I very much look forward to seeing some of the beautiful views which the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, would prefer to retain for those who are privileged enough to have bought for very large amounts of money the foreshores in Poole, parts of Dorset and Devon, and elsewhere.