No, I am not a wreck and certainly not an historic wreck although I sometimes feel like one!
This post is about the work of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee of which I am a member. http://www.parliament.uk/hldelegatedpowers
The Wreck Removal Convention Bill is a private members Bill that has government support and implements the Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks. The purpose is self explanatory – to remove dangerous wrecks.
I pointed out in the Committee that the Convention could clash with previous government decisions and legislation on the protection of historic wrecks which we seek to preserve and safeguard. I suspect there will not be a serious conflict but it is the sort of thing that Parliamentarians need to keep their eye on. I won’t know for a while if there is a problem but as a scuba diver who hasn’t dived much recently I thought we ought to flag up the danger!
Now I know why I met Clive Soley’s look alike
with a crowd of divers in a Jurassic coast
resort some years ago!
Needless to say I was on my bike.
My Lord will this new bill have any effect to the SS Richard Montgomery, wrecked off Sheerness in 1944 with 1,500 tonnes of explosives that continue to present a credible danger ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery
Almost every window in Sheerness (pop. c20,000) would be broken and buildings would be damaged by the blast.
Independence for the Isle of Sheppey then?
No, I think a dangerous wreck has to be marked and only moved if it can be done safely.
Clive Soley