Part of Business of the House – in the House of Commons at 12:30 am on 6 May 1980.
Kenneth Clarke
Parliamentary Secretary (Ministry of Transport)
12:30,
6 May 1980
I acknowledge the validity of the hon. Gentleman's point. I appreciate that the port of London is not the same as the Port of London Authority. The hon. Gentleman has done a service to point out that there is a great deal of traffic within the port of London that is not handled by the authority. But that should not affect the title of the Bill. There is a very good technical reason why it would be wrong, and a misdescription of the Bill, to insert the word "Authority", as the hon. Gentleman suggests.
The limitation of the title to the PLA would mean that it did not cover Clause 1(3), which is about the reimbursement by the Secretary of State for Employment to the National Dock Labour Board. It is important that we give proper legitimacy to the payments that have been made to the board to reimburse it for severance payments to registered dock workers in the port of London. If the title were restricted, as the Amendment proposes, it would imply that the authority was the only public body able to receive financial assistance under the Bill. The board must be considered, and for that reason the broader title has been chosen.
I hope that the hon. Gentleman will accept that the title is technically correct. It does not mean that we have ignored his reminder that there are activities going on within the port of London other than those conducted by the authority. It would be inaccurate too to make the amendment, which would misdescribe an important provision of the Bill.
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