I apologise. He is here, sitting on the Front Bench. I shall write to him setting out the details, if he is happy with that. He may find himself on the Committee, in which case we can dig into some of the issues if he is sufficiently interested.
In response to the point correctly made by the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar), I can confirm that the provisions in the draft Bill on which consultation took place in 2009 regarding search and rescue can be implemented by means of the existing permitting regime as contained in the Antarctic Act 1994, and that primary legislation is therefore unnecessary. I am sure he agrees that there is no point in legislating when legislation is not necessary, or when the position is covered by existing legislative frameworks.
The Government believe that the Bill provides a real opportunity and gives proportionate support to the Antarctic environment. This country is rightly proud of its Antarctic heritage in the form of exploration, international co-operation and good governance. I am delighted to support the Bill on behalf of the Government, and I urge Members to give it their active support in Committee in order to ensure its expeditious passage on to the statute book.
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