1101
London
[VISCOUNT DAVIDSON.]
HKB
040 / + RECEIVED FORDST
Traffic
1102
P/W VBP
+ Corfitance
Democracy
3
27FEB 000 two basic issues that were raised right at the
beginning: namely, that there has to be remic Law el curs, 204 bu qverall wrtenay with a co body if sense is to be made out of the which London's traffic is declining at the moment
noble Lord. Lord Mountevans, also asked avent avsting to meet peak hove douandami trying to spread the peak. I shall write to-him on that
matter.
My noble friend Lord Nugent asked about the traffic director, and I welcome his comments. The traffic director will be working with the Department of Transport and local authorities looking at central London and the busiest routes for through traffic, including those in outer London where the traffic growth is greatest and where public transport does not have the flexibility to meet people's needs.
I have more to say, but I want to leave a few minutes for the noble Lord, Lord Tordoff. So in conclusion I should like to stress that the Government are pursuing a wide range of measures and initiatives to deal with the problems facing London's traffic. They are doing so within a coherent framework and in a way which provides a balance between public and private transport. Our prosperity today requires us to invest in infrastructure and equally our prosperity today enables us to do so. Record amounts are being invested in public transport and in strategic road links. The need for them has come about largely due to the success of London as a premier financial centre. Their purpose is equally to maintain London and the City as competitive business and cultural centres in the century ahead.
The Government have a leading role but they are not alone. They need the co-operation of everyone concerned, including the boroughs, the transport operators and the enforcement authorities, and we are encouraging them all to join us so that London has the transport systems it deserves.
5.38 p.m.
Lord Tordoff: My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have taken part in the debate. I had a check list of matters that I had not mentioned. I am glad to say that virtually all have been mentioned. One of them was the Horne Report which I left deliberately, because I had assumed that the noble Lord, Lord Underhill, would deal with it. I join with other noble Lords on the normal transport circuit in your Lordships' House and very much regret his absence today. We hope to see him back shortly.
The Minister has assured us that the Government have a coherent approach. That is not altogether obvious from what he said today or from what appears in the discussion document. He said that the Government will listen to what is being said. I hope so. This is virtually the only occasion upon which Parliament will have a chance to debate the issue. The response from the Government Front Bench does not indicate that they will do anything other than assert what they had on their brief before the debate started. I hope that that is not the case.
We are reminded that fares must rise on Network SouthEast because people have to pay for things; that the Underground has to increase fares to stop people travelling on it. All these points have been made throughout the debate. The overwhelming balance of the debate has been very much in favour
as
The point has been well made from all formally
House. I hope that the Minister will take note of what has been said and take some action on that basis. I thank everybody and beg leave to withdraw my Motion.
Motion for Papers, by leave, withdrawn.
5.40 p.m.
Hong Kong
Lord Bonham-Carter rose to call attention to the situation in Hong Kong; and to move for Papers.
The noble Lord said: My Lords, I beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.
Let none of your Lordshps suppose that we on these Benches think that the situation of either the Vietnamese boat people or the people of Hong Kong is easy and one which has easy answers. On the contrary, it is extremely difficult. It demands from the Government a mixture of flexibility, compromise and firmness. I am glad to say that listening to the ITN one o'clock news today I noted that some encouraging developments were reported. It was reported first, that the 29-nation UN conference on refugees had reached an agreement, which would be announced, that there would be a moratorium of six months on forcible repatriation in order for voluntary repatriation time to work. Secondly, it was reported than an effective and swift means of processing Vietnamese boat people who arrived in the new season would be established.
It was further reported, as I understand it, that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees would supervise and monitor these arrangements. Such was the report that I heard on ITN. It repeats almost word for word all the recommendations made by my right honourable friend Mr. Paddy Ashdown in another place 19th December, before Christmas, and in a succession of letters to the Foreign Secretary. I am very willing to congratulate the Government on taking his excellent advice, and I only wish that they had taken it a little earlier.
on
The fact is that the Vietnamese boat people have always been an international problem which can only be effectively handled on an international basis. I am delighted to hear the progress which appears to have been made. I add that the prospects for voluntary repatriation are not discouraging. Under the UN scheme, 1,000 people have been repatriated already and the forecast for the coming year is 10,000-a not insubstantial figure.
However, two matters which are of importance and significance were not mentioned in that report. Both refer to the difficult problem of how to stem the flow of further refugees leaving Vietnam, with or without the knowledge of their Government, coming to Hong Kong. First, it is generally agreed that a substantial proportion of the Veitnamese boat people are economic refugees, driven to take the desperate course of sailing to Hong Kong to escape
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