Alteration of Penalties

Part of Merchant Shipping Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 30 March 1979.

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Photo of Mr Robert Adley Mr Robert Adley , Christchurch and Lymington 12:00, 30 March 1979

My hon. Friend is right—one cannot legislate against human error—but will he accept it from me that there is clear evidence that the standards which we impose upon our ships registered in Britain are very high, while the standards which appear to be imposed by the Liberians, the Greeks and the Panamanians are not so high? In seeking to ensure that their standards are as high as ours, we should put the onus on them and should not be inhibited, because present evidence—I cited a little this morning—is that it is not British masters in British ships who are having the most accidents.