Nick Ainger: I seek further clarification. The problems that we are discussing are often seasonal problems, particularly for seabirds when they raft up and so on at certain times of the year. They are mobile species and there may be rafts of seabirds a mile or two away, or perhaps even 10 miles away. My hon. Friend the Minister is saying that because there is a specific geographic designation to the MCZ,...
Nick Ainger: On a point of order, Mr. Pope. Clause 139 refers to the offences of intentionally or recklessly killing or injuring animals in MCZs and so on. I realise that many members of the Committee are concerned about the disturbance element. Would it not be more appropriate to discuss the disturbance element when debating clause 139 rather than clause 140? I seek your guidance, Mr. Pope, because...
Nick Ainger: I am grateful for the explanation, but it gives me cause for concern, because a local planning authority may be asked to account for a decision but the fact remains that that decision is made and has gone ahead, thereby causing damage to an MCZ. I suggest that before such a decision is implemented, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Executive or a Government Department should be...
Nick Ainger: I am grateful to the Minister for that explanation but will he finally clarify this point? Is he saying that, of the MCZs or special sites that will form the network, some may be designated as highly protected areas—appropriately, given the nature of their environment—under clause 123?
Nick Ainger: This is another issue that has been brought to my attention by the Countryside Council for Wales, which is concerned that public authorities could grant consent for an activity that could damage an MCZ. It suggests that the same principles and rules that apply to land-based planning decisions should apply to marine planning decisions. In other words, if a public authority were minded to grant...
Nick Ainger: Following on from that point, I tabled an amendment to an earlier clause, which we have passed now. My amendment was not selected because I was too late, and I assure you that I am not going back to that debate, Mr. Pope. Following on from the point of the hon. Member for Clwyd, West about estuaries that have different authorities, particularly around the Welsh border, such as the Dee and...
Nick Ainger: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Pope. I want to comment on a couple of the points that have been made and I look forward to hearing what the Minister says in response. First, the hon. Member for St. Ives was absolutely right to talk about the need to establish a balance. All colleagues have been contacted by non-governmental organisations that are concerned that the...
Nick Ainger: I accept that the trouble might be that as a safe haven is presumably a relatively sheltered area, there might be the unfortunate coincidence that it has protected species and one ends up trying to make a sensible and balanced decision. I would be grateful to hear how the Minister sees the balance being struck, because that is the issue. People out there believe that purely because there is a...
Nick Ainger: I quoted the charges, but I also have a list of the airlines that do not allow patients to take on board their own oxygen cylinders. That list consists of the majority of airlines that I quoted as charging for alternative provision. It is clear that the majority of airlines in this survey are not abiding by those guidelines.
Nick Ainger: Earlier, the Minister mentioned that he had visited a number of airline websites to establish what information was being made available to patients to enable them to make a choice. In certain circumstances, however, patients cannot exercise a choice because they are considering a specific route. They may be looking at a budget airline route to a relatively small airport. BMI and Ryanair are...
Nick Ainger: BMI.
Nick Ainger: It is a pleasure, Mr. Jones, to serve under your chairmanship. I wish to declare an interest; I am a trustee of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, as listed in the Register of Members’ Interests. I wish to bring to the attention of the House the fact that some airlines charge large fees to those who need to use supplementary oxygen when flying. I am grateful to the 218 right hon....
Nick Ainger: I have been contacted by the Countryside Council for Wales, which is the statutory advisory body for the Welsh Assembly. It has raised a number of issues that I would like to bring to the Committee’s attention. Unfortunately, in the time given, it was not possible to table an amendment, but I will ask the Minister some questions. Clause 123 creates the network of conservation sites, but...
Nick Ainger: Like everyone else who has spoken so far, I welcome the Bill. It may have been a long time coming, but it is even more welcome for that. I pay tribute to the ministerial team, who have been plugging away at it and getting agreement, particularly with the devolved Administrations. I know that it has not necessarily been too easy to achieve that, bearing in mind the idea of trying to have UK...
Nick Ainger: I do not think that the hon. Gentleman is correct about compensation. What was done was done by agreement, and it took an awfully long time. The Welsh Assembly wants to complete the round-Wales coastal path by 2012 and is funding that. Like other Welsh Members, I have been briefed by Jane Davidson. The Assembly thinks that it can achieve that by using local authorities and by negotiating with...
Nick Ainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) whether he has had discussions with other Governments about the ending of charges by airlines for passengers with pulmonary hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, muscular dystrophy and other conditions who bring personal oxygen concentrators and equipment on board airlines or who use supplemental oxygen provided by the airline;...
Nick Ainger: My right hon. Friend will recall the devastation that was visited on communities in west Wales and the valleys during the 1980s and the early 1990s as a result of two Tory recessions. Does he agree that the policies that were followed then were wrong and left a lasting legacy that meant that under the Labour Government we qualified for special European aid? The way to get out of a recession...
Nick Ainger: May I agree wholeheartedly with what the Chancellor said? I was on the Treasury Committee when the Governor said the words that my right hon. Friend has just repeated. May I commend to my right hon. Friend the submission produced by Professor "Danny" Blanchflower and David Bell of Stirling university, which puts forward suggestions to address youth unemployment? In the summer, 700,000 young...
Nick Ainger: I was surprised by the comments of the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald). The opening speech made by his Front-Bench spokesman made no proposals other than the perpetually fed-out idea of a £50 billion loan guarantee system. There was nothing else. Where was the beef? This was an opportunity for the Opposition to set out what they would do if they were in government, and...
Nick Ainger: I listened with interest to what Opposition Members said about how removing the regulatory role from the Bank of England has led to the present difficulties, but the same situation exists in the US, Japan and across Europe. Yes, there have been serious failures of regulation, and I accept that the FSA and other regulators got into a tick-box culture that meant that they were not looking at...