Orders of the Day — Channel Tunnel Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 April 1974.

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Photo of Mr Fred Mulley Mr Fred Mulley , Sheffield Park 12:00, 30 April 1974

What the hon. Gentleman must understand is that if the Bill does not go through, the scheme is abandoned. The difficulty is rather like that of the country yokel who was asked by someone to tell him the best way to X. He said, "If I were going to X, I would not start from here." It is true that we should have preferred not to start from the point from which, as a Government, we had to start. But since the October debate and the motion, the treaty has been signed, and that is obviously an obligation. The time-scale to which the right hon. Member for Finchley (Mrs. Thatcher) referred was agreed with our French partners before we became a Government.