Clause 1 - Arrest without warrant
Aviation (Offences) Bill
Mr Richard Bacon (South Norfolk, Conservative)
I was recalling to the attention of the Committee—and particularly the Under-Secretary—the diligence of my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) in her attention to legislative matters before the House. He knows the close forensic detail in which she scrutinised the Railways and Transport Safety Bill and this private Member's Bill—a forensic detail that I can only describe as exhaustive.
Many of the points that I wished to raise have been covered by my hon. Friend on Second Reading, but I should like to raise a couple of points with the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Mr. Roy). First, I congratulate him on the Bill. It puts right a serious omission in the law because, as he said, an aircraft is a very dangerous place, and it is odd that a range of what are offences in other places, on land or sea, are not arrestable without a warrant in an aircraft.
It is right that the Bill should make provision for prohibiting specified behaviour by a person in an aircraft towards, or in relation to, a member of the crew, and for prohibiting a passenger from being drunk in an aircraft. In those unusual circumstances on an aircraft, it is wrong that there should be any need for an arrest warrant, or for the police to travel to a suspect's house. We support the clause.
I should be grateful if the hon. Gentleman would address two points that were alluded to by my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York on Second Reading. First, there is the question of those passengers who are drunk or have been drinking before boarding the plane, as there is nothing in the Bill that relates to them or their condition. Secondly, there are people, particularly on the cheapo charter flights going to the Mediterranean, who are not drunk when boarding the plane, but who consume alcohol that they have purchased privately, sometimes out of sight of the cabin crew. My hon. Friend expressed those concerns on Second Reading and we would be grateful for an assurance on that subject.
With those minor provisos, it gives me pleasure to support the clause.
Mr. Hugo Swire (East Devon): I, too, am delighted to support the clause and the Bill. I congratulate the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw on introducing the Bill. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Mr. Bacon); the clause corrects an oversight.
More people are travelling by air and air passenger numbers are up, despite a temporary setback at the moment, for obvious reasons; there is also a proliferation of much cheaper flights, which is to be welcomed. We must, therefore, ensure that the legislation is in place to protect the passengers, some of whom will be infrequent airline passengers, and the cabin crew, whom I believe react to most circumstances with professionalism and dedication.
New paragraph 11A seems to protect a member of the crew. In fact, new paragraph 11A(a) relates to:
"a provision which prohibits specified behaviour by a person in an aircraft towards or in relation to a member of the crew, or''—
in new paragraph 11A(b)—
"a provision which prohibits a person being drunk in an aircraft, in so far as it applies to passengers.''
Perhaps the hon. Gentleman could clarify that. It is all very well protecting the crew, but what are his views on protecting passengers? Having purchased a ticket, passengers have as much right to be protected under the law as a member of the crew. Has the hon. Gentleman considered whether a passenger might sometimes need protection from a crew member? Unfortunately, it is not unknown for a crew member to be intoxicated or belligerent to passengers, and passengers should have an equal right to be protected from the crew, if that were necessary.
We covered most of the ground on Second Reading, but it is worth bearing in mind the different reactions that some people have to alcohol. I know people who become nervous when travelling; they get into an agitated state and one drink could perhaps tip them over. There are those who are on medication, for whom one drink could have disastrous consequences. I wonder whether the hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw has thought about how the law could be further widened to ensure that people on medication declare that fact to the cabin crew before purchasing or receiving any alcohol, which might have an adverse effect.
I suspect that most airlines and crew members would welcome the measures and, if we get the legislation right, most passengers would welcome it too.