The three speeches/headings immediately before

1. 1 earlier: Hilary Benn

   My hon. Friend the Under-Secretary is a man of his word and my hon. Friend the Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley) can expect to receive a visit during the Committee stage. If any other hon. Members want to get their bids in, they ought to do so fast.

   The wildlife trusts, which have worked very hard for this Bill, have described the publication of the Bill as an "historic victory" and the Local Government Association has said that it is one of the most important pieces of legislation to be developed for decades for the marine environment.

2. 2 earlier: Hugh Bayley

   There is huge interest in my constituency in this Bill. The Yorkshire wildlife trust held a public meeting recently, to which 300 people turned up; and 100 to 200 people turn up each time the wildlife trust does one of its beach clean-ups on the Yorkshire coast. A little while ago, the Under-Secretary agreed to come to York to meet these people at a public meeting. The Secretary of State knows, because he has held just that kind of meeting in my constituency, that they are useful and constructive occasions. I would like an assurance that the Under-Secretary will be able to come to such a meeting while the Bill and amendments are being considered in Committee, so that he can listen to what the public are saying.

3. 3 earlier: Hilary Benn

   I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

   For many centuries, our nation has been defined by its relationship with the sea. Although we may no longer seek to rule the waves, our island heritage remains a source of great pride. Our seas and our coasts and their waters are a source of so much: they give us food; they support jobs; they enable us to travel and to create energy; they help us to regulate our changing climate; they give us the chance to sail or to swim or to dive and catch a glimpse of what lies beneath the surface. Our seas inspire us, from the mirror-glass stillness of a calm day to the fearsome rage of a storm.

   John F. Kennedy put it like this:

   "All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt that exists in the ocean... We have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, we are going back from whence we came."

   How very true—and yet for many years we have taken all of this for granted. The House knows that we cannot do so any more. If we wish to ensure that future generations can continue to enjoy these riches, we must recognise the pressures that humankind has put on our seas and take the steps needed to create healthier, more productive and more biologically diverse waters. That is what this Bill aims to do.

   I cannot let this moment pass without thanking all the people without whose passion, commitment and sheer determination I would not be standing here today moving the Bill's Second Reading. I acknowledge the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall), who has campaigned for this Bill for many years. I also acknowledge the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams), my hon. Friends the Members for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) and for Reading, West (Martin Salter), and the hon. Member for St. Ives (Andrew George). I thank the former DEFRA Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Jonathan Shaw), who it is good to see in his place today, and the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies), who has done so much work to get the Bill before us today. I also thank the Joint Committee, which under the chairmanship of Lord Greenway carried out pre-legislative scrutiny, and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, which under the chairmanship of the right hon. Member for Fylde (Mr. Jack) examined the Bill's coastal access provisions.

   Perhaps most important of all, in adding to that august list, I wish to thank the 15,000 organisations and members of the public who responded to our consultation, and the many more who have wanted this Bill for a long time and would not rest until it came to pass.