(12 years ago)
Commons ChamberRead Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.
I am grateful for the interest that so many people have shown in my Bill. I shall begin by talking about the Antarctic in general terms, before explaining why the Bill is so important and dealing with the key parts of it.
Many of us know where the Antarctic is, but let me be absolutely clear and say that it contains the south pole. It is the fifth largest continent in the world, and is one and a half times the size of the United States of America. So it is a big place, and hence an important place. The House may be interested to know that the first birth of a human being there occurred in 1978, so it really is exceptionally cold; I am sure that Members are able to make the link. The Antarctic is almost completely—98%—covered in ice, and if all that ice melted, we would find ourselves with a sea level about 60 metres higher than it currently is. The scale of the continent is formidable.
Our history in relation to the Antarctic goes back a long way, and the expeditions of Shackleton and Scott are emblematic of this country’s interest in it. I salute all who were involved in those expeditions, particularly Robert Scott’s last expedition. I shall say more about the subject later, but I think it important for us to recognise at this stage that Britain has always been very involved and interested in the Antarctic, as the Bill demonstrates and emphasises.
Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on having taken his Bill this far. He has not yet mentioned Argentina, which, I understand, also has a great interest in the Antarctic. Why does his Bill make no reference to that country?
Neil Carmichael
My hon. Friend asks a useful and important question, which, ironically, lies at the heart of the Bill. We have a treaty relationship which effectively controls our relationships with other nation states and our activities in the Antarctic. By ensuring that the treaty is applied to domestic law and is strengthened, we are strengthening our own British presence, and thus issuing a challenge in any dispute that we might have with the Argentine Government. That is one of the key reasons why the Bill should be allowed to proceed.
There are two more general points to be made in connection with the Bill—
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
Before my hon. Friend moves on, this is probably my fault rather than his, but I am unclear as to whether the Bill will have any real impact, given that there are all these other international treaties. How will it make any impact whatever on our current structure of international obligations?
Neil Carmichael
That is an important question, and there are two points to make in response. First, by showing British leadership and demonstrating that the existing treaty arrangements are important to us and should be important to the other signatories, we will signal that we mean business in respect of international control, ownership and responsibility in the Antarctic. That will make dealing with the challenges we face easier. Secondly, we must be aware of other nations, notably China and Korea, becoming interested in the Antarctic for obvious reasons. We therefore need to protect and enhance our international structures to deal with that.
Mr John Spellar (Warley) (Lab)
May I assist the hon. Gentleman? One recent concern has been whether the proposed merger of the British Antarctic Survey and the National Oceanography Centre was sending the wrong signals. As he will be aware, the Science and Technology Committee, which is chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller), produced a very good report recommending that that merger should not go ahead. I am pleased to see that in response to it the Government have today issued a statement confirming that those two bodies will not be merged. That sends a very good message to other countries with interests in the region, especially Argentina.
Neil Carmichael
I am grateful for that assistance from someone on the Opposition Front Bench. I was intending to celebrate the fact that that merger will not go ahead. That is exceptionally good news for the BAS, and I will discuss it in more detail later.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on introducing this Bill, which I strongly support as it represents a good step forward. I urge him to be positive about the future of Antarctica. There are millions of people around the world who want it to be a zone of peace, and a place for scientific research not mineral exploitation or exploration. There is great support for the preservation of the flora and fauna in the seas around the Antarctic, too, from many people in many countries—some of which may not have close relations with Britain. We must ensure that next year’s Antarctic conference asserts the need to preserve the fish stocks and mammals in the seas around Antarctica as things we can all learn from.
Neil Carmichael
The hon. Gentleman makes a key point. The current treaty arrangements include agreements that the continent be demilitarised and protected. Both those requirements are still upheld, and they are, of course, triumphs of the British contribution to the Antarctic, because it was our approach that achieved them. We should celebrate that.
I want to talk briefly about my personal interest in the Antarctic and its relevance to the people of my constituency. Sir Peter Scott is the son of Robert Scott. Robert Scott wrote to his wife at the end of his final expedition, expressing the hope that his son, who was two years of age, would later show an interest in the natural environment. Sir Peter Scott did precisely that. He established the Slimbridge wetlands centre and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, as well as Falklands Conservation. There is a direct link between the Antarctic and my constituency, therefore.
Interestingly, this morning I received an e-mail from a constituent, Roderick Rhys Jones, who is from Eastcombe. He reminded me that he was a constituent of mine and also noted that he went to a local school, so he has clearly been living in the area for quite some time. He drew my attention to the fact that 29 men and women have died in Antarctica in pursuit of science since 1944, when the permanent scientific base was set up by Britain. They died in fires, and as a result of falling down crevices and exposure to the appalling conditions. Monuments have been raised in memory of those scientists. The theme of my constituent’s e-mail is that we need to make sure that the people doing such important work on what is a very big, and quite dangerous, continent are protected.
I am a member of the Environmental Audit Committee. It did a fantastic piece of work on the Arctic. When we were discussing our conclusions, I was able to demonstrate that the “polluter pays” concept and the responsibilities of explorers and others in the Antarctic were also relevant to the Arctic, and our report made those points. I pay tribute to the Chair of the EAC, the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Joan Walley).
Zac Goldsmith (Richmond Park) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the progress he has made with this important Bill, of which I am pleased to be a co-sponsor. The EAC report relates only to the Arctic, but the principles in this Bill would be particularly important for the Arctic, because it faces immediate pressures, not least in respect of oil exploration. I therefore hope the Minister will learn from this Bill and incorporate the relevant aspects into the Government’s approach to the Arctic.
Neil Carmichael
I am grateful for the support I have received from my hon. Friend. We have worked together very effectively on the EAC, and I agree with what he says about the clear links between the two poles.
I want to mention two important recent anniversaries. The invasion of the Falklands took place three decades ago. The recent anniversary should serve to remind us of the importance of maintaining a strong and robust British presence not only in the Antarctic, but in the region as a whole.
Damian Collins (Folkestone and Hythe) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that we should preserve the independence of the BAS? Having a BAS presence in the area would be a good way of showing our ongoing commitment to the Antarctic.
Neil Carmichael
My hon. Friend makes an important point. If we want to retain our presence in the region, including the Falklands, we have to do so in a meaningful way, and this Bill addresses that point. The British presence in the region matters to the region as well as to us, and it also matters to the other signatories of the various treaties.
Jeremy Corbyn
Does the hon. Gentleman accept, however, that any military presence in the Antarctic by any nation is illegal within the terms of the Antarctic treaty, and we should not think that the British claim to some of the Antarctic gives us any authority to place any kind of military equipment or people there?
Neil Carmichael
I have already noted that the Antarctic is demilitarised as a result of British action. It is recognised as a demilitarised zone by us and every other country and, to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question, it will clearly remain so. That should not stop us from addressing the broader issues and mentioning the Falklands, however.
The second anniversary is, of course, that of Robert Scott’s expedition. I wish to emphasise the reputation he has garnered for scientific work—for discovery and real interest in the Antarctic—and why it matters. I remind the House that the discovery of the first hole in the ozone layer was made in 1985 from the Antarctic. That scientific linkage involving issues that are connected with the environment but that are also central to our work on the Antarctic draws substantially from Robert Scott’s expeditions and his emphasis on scientific work.
Mr William Cash (Stone) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend recognise that the first expedition, in 1901 to 1904, was based very much on science as well as exploration? Its scientists, including Mr Ferrar, Mr Hodgson, Louis Bernacchi and Edward Wilson, set a course that has now resulted in this extremely important Bill, because the science was so relevant to their expeditionary endeavours?
Neil Carmichael
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention, because he is absolutely right about the science. We should salute and celebrate it, because the linkage between that earlier expedition and everything that has happened thereafter, including what is still happening today through the good work of the British Antarctic Survey, is a fundamental reminder of why it is so important. The history to which he refers is an important narrative in respect of my point, and I am immensely grateful to him for his support.
Let me now deal with the Bill itself. First, I must emphasise that it builds on existing treaties, which have already been amended. We have to go back to 1951 to find the first effective treaty, which was ratified in 1961, the year of my birth. That was a significant piece of legislation at the time I was arriving on the scene—although obviously not in the Antarctic itself! Twelve nations signed that treaty, and 50 nations are now involved in the Antarctic. That underlines the point I was making about China and other countries in response to my helpful colleague, my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies).
I should also pay tribute to the previous Government for the work they did in preparing the way for this Bill, which is similar but not the same as their Bill. They did some good work on that legislation, which emphasises the cross-party nature of the support on this matter, and I am grateful for that. A lot of consultation has taken place, both back in 2005 by those interested in the earlier Bill and more recently. I have also had meetings with a large number of organisations, and I want to list them all: the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, whose tie I am wearing in a salute to it; the Antarctic Ocean Alliance; the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge; the Scott Polar Research Institute; the British Mountaineering Council; the International Polar Foundation UK; Poles Apart Ltd; and above all, of course, the British Antarctic Survey.
I am conscious that members, scientists, supporters, managers and leaders of the BAS will be listening to this speech and watching this debate, because it is of immediate and direct interest to them. I want to thank everybody in the BAS for doing everything they have done over the years, because their efforts, the sacrifices they have sometimes made, and their extraordinary commitment, courage and tenacity in pursuing scientific endeavour are incredibly impressive, and this House should be grateful to them. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert) for being so helpful on this whole issue of the BAS, which is based in his constituency. I hope to visit Cambridge from time to time to see how well the BAS is getting on, because it certainly deserves support from this House and I shall be happy to give it.
The shadow Minister referred to the work of the Science and Technology Committee. I agreed with its conclusions, as did the Environmental Audit Committee, and I thank the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller) for the work he did in driving through that report to underpin the overall strong support for the BAS. It was great that in the debate in the House of Lords the Senior Minister of State, Baroness Warsi, underlined the Government’s support for the British Antarctic Survey. It is interesting that there is a Senior Minister of State in the Foreign Office, and of course the Foreign Secretary is the First Secretary of State, so that Department contains a lot of powerful Ministers. The Minister here today is equally powerful, and I am pleased to see him in his place supporting the Bill. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is also involved in this because it relates to the future of the BAS. The Natural Environment Research Council made the right decision not to proceed with the merger, which was mentioned earlier, and instead to make sure that the BAS is properly independent and appropriately resourced. From this moment on, I pledge to support every one of its endeavours and make sure that it can undertake the work that it so necessarily does.
James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)
My hon. Friend says that he will do everything he can, and he has been a great advocate of this cause, both before being lucky enough to win a place in the private Member’s Bill ballot and subsequently, but he has not yet visited the Antarctic. Will he join me in urging the Minister to support a visit, so that he can use that experience not only on his Bill, but in the future?
Neil Carmichael
That is probably the best intervention I have ever taken, because it underlines the fact that I would really like to visit the Antarctic and support from hon. Friends for doing that is simply fantastic.
Gavin Williamson (South Staffordshire) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend feel that he might need to lead quite a large delegation on such a visit?
Neil Carmichael
I can see where this is going. I know that the Minister is making notes as to when the visit should take place. There may be the need for some of us to keep each other warm in an appropriate way.
Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)
How would the hon. Gentleman envisage hon. Members keeping each other warm?
Neil Carmichael
I am not going to go into the full details, but I think that single sleeping bags for those hon. Members who have so far expressed interest would be appropriate. The key point about visiting the Antarctic is that it is important to show interest, commitment and appropriate support to those there working on our behalf. That would be the real purpose of such a visit, and I would like to participate in one.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
My hon. Friend may not be visiting Antarctica any time soon, but he can visit Parliament square today, where the flag of the British Antarctic Territory proudly flies for the first time ever.
Neil Carmichael
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that intervention. I will certainly salute the flag, and I wish to thank him for his work as chairman of the all-party group on polar regions. We have worked very effectively together, and I am grateful to him for coming along to the debate. We will continue to work together because, as I have stressed, this is not just a matter of getting the Bill through Parliament, but a matter of what happens thereafter.
Let me speak about the details of the Bill, which I know hon. Members will have read with great interest. The two parts of the Bill, as I mentioned, build on treaty obligations, the need to maintain and where possible strengthen the British presence, and the good work that our scientists and explorers have done over two centuries. The first part deals with environmental emergencies, and enhances contingency planning for such emergencies. That is important because of the increasing pressure on the Antarctic. Part 1 raises the issue of liability and passes to operators and others the responsibility to make sure that they properly prepare for their activities.
The provisions for environmental emergencies cover the impact not of routine operations, but of accidents and unpredictable incidents that result in environmental damage—for example, ship groundings. There have been one or two shipping accidents. My hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope) spoke about Argentina. The biggest single accident involved a ship from Argentina, which dispensed 600,000 litres of diesel, resulting in a huge $10 million bill for the clean-up. Appropriate contingency measures are important, and responsibility for accidents should be properly allocated. That is a useful point to make.
Part 1 also requires operators to secure adequate insurance, a point that has been discussed with my hon. Friend the Member for Richmond Park (Zac Goldsmith). It is important to underline the obligation for operators to be properly insured for whatever they intend to do in the Antarctic.
Gavin Williamson
Does my hon. Friend agree that proper insurance of operators is increasingly important, especially with 95% of all tourist visits to Antarctica coming through the British Antarctic Territory?
Neil Carmichael
My hon. Friend makes an exceptionally pertinent point. The provision is partly aimed at the increased tourist interest. Part 1 is essential for ensuring that the Antarctic is protected.
Part 2 takes some protection measures further. It implements and strengthens conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora, and the environmental protection of marine plants and invertebrates would also be strengthened. It protects and promotes the conservation of British historical sites and monuments, which is important in the centenary year of Robert Scott’s final expedition. We should recognise the significance of those monuments in the history that I outlined earlier, because they symbolise the British presence and should be protected appropriately.
The Bill goes on to implement annex 2 of the treaty negotiated about 10 years ago. It is right that we move in that direction and put into domestic law agreements and processes that have been negotiated.
The Bill recognises our treaty obligations and demonstrates that British presence is important to us and will always be part not just of our desire to protect the Antarctic, but of our foreign policy. I am particularly pleased about that, and happy that the Foreign Office has been so helpful in preparing the Bill and that a Foreign Office Minister will be responding to the debate. Issues of insurance will be pored over by organisations. Shipping lines, for example, will clearly be interested in the Bill and I would be happy to discuss with them the implications of the changes. If the Bill proceeds to Committee, as I sincerely hope it does, that is what I expect to happen.
In conclusion, I am committed to protecting the Antarctic, committed to the British presence in the Antarctic, and committed to highlighting the need to protect such an important continent in the wider context of the environment. I am delighted that the links between my constituency and the Antarctic could be strengthened by a visit by me to the Antarctic in due course. I hope the House will support the Bill and give it a Second Reading.
Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North) (Lab)
I welcome the Bill and strongly support it. I hope it gets its Second Reading today and goes speedily through a Committee that can be quickly arranged so that it can make its way into law.
I have been involved in previous Antarctic legislation in the House and I have dug out my files from the debates on the Antarctic Minerals Act 1989, which fortunately was repealed some years later. I was involved with the introduction of the Antarctic Act 1994, which in effect recognised the Antarctic as zone of peace, as it always had been, and as a place where there would be no mineral exploitation or exploration, but where there would be scientific research.
We should think for a moment of the value to humanity of preserving the Antarctic in its natural form. Because it is such a pristine and fragile environment, it is possible to study the history of the world’s pollution. One can take ice samples, examine levels of lead pollution in the atmosphere, and see the point at which lead pollution decreased because of the removal of lead from petrol in many countries around the world. One can look at levels of CO2 in the atmosphere and, as the hon. Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) pointed out, the British Antarctic Survey discovered the hole in the ozone layer because it was able to carry out that research in the Antarctic and because it is such a pristine environment. We want to be sure that we keep it that way.
I detected from some of the Members who intervened on the hon. Gentleman a slight degree of xenophobia and nationalism in their approach, but that is a totally unwarranted remark for me to make to any of them. Can we be real about the Antarctic? It belongs to the whole world. There is a significant British claim on the Antarctic territories. There are significant claims on every bit of Antarctica by many other countries, and those claims often overlap. Fortunately, sense has prevailed and there has not been a war over the Antarctic. There have not been ludicrous levels of competition for influence over the Antarctic. Indeed, the treaty principle and the co-operation principle have prevailed.
We should approach the subject on the basis that Britain has made a positive contribution through the work of the British Antarctic Survey, and I compliment that institution. I am pleased that it will not be merged with any other body and that it will carry on its very good work. I am sure the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert) will speak about that later. It has been my privilege in the past to visit the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, and a very impressive institution it is, too.
Sadly, like every other Member who has spoken, I have not had the chance to visit the Antarctic. The nearest I came to it was in 1990, when I was visiting Chile to celebrate the departure of General Pinochet, and I thought I would conclude the celebrations by undertaking a visit to the Antarctic. I was all ready to go there, but unfortunately I was forced to return to the House to be one of a very small minority of Members who voted against the forthcoming Gulf war. My party Whips rather wished that I had gone to the Antarctic rather than come back; they may have had similar inclinations ever since.
We finally repealed the Antarctic Minerals Act 1989, which authorised exploration for—not necessarily exploitation of—mineral reserves, and passed the Antarctic Act 1994. We should pay a great tribute to Greenpeace for the work that it did at that time. Once the Bill had been through the British Parliament, many other national Parliaments were required to legislate on the matter, and Greenpeace was assiduous in its lobbying to the extent that broadly similar legislation went through many other Parliaments, including Russia’s, so that eventually, by 2005, we had reached a situation whereby the environmental protocol could be signed, the secretariat could be established, and environmental protection could go ahead. That was very important and very welcome.
There are massive fish stocks in the Southern ocean. There is an international agreement on the preservation of whales, which is strongly supported by all parties in this House, and has been by successive UK Governments, but is not supported by Norway, Iceland or Japan. There are always difficulties in the International Whaling Commission when the Japanese, in effect, try to buy votes to end the moratorium on whaling. An important spin-off from the changed and developing pro-environmental protection attitude to the Antarctic has been the preservation of fish and fauna stocks all over the Southern ocean in a very large area around Antarctica. It is very important to maintain that preservation, because if fishing is allowed and there is a massive fish take from the Antarctic, that will have a knock-on effect further up the food chain on seals, whales and everything else.
However, environmental protection in the Antarctic is now under threat. Only this morning we had the disappointing news that China and Ukraine are opposed to a new protective zone around the whole continent. I think that the renewal conference on the agreement takes place next year in Berlin, and the British Government have taken a very robust view, as did the previous British Government, on the preservation of fish and mammals within the whole region. I hope that the Minister will comment on the prospects for the conference in 2013 and that we will manage to get international agreement on continuing with the current approach to Antarctica.
As I said in an intervention on the hon. Member for Stroud, the history of the Antarctic is interesting for many reasons. Obviously, there is the huge narrative in popular British history about the role of Scott and the amazing hardship that his expedition faced—as did other expeditions such as those of Amundsen and many others. There was a form of competitive exploration going on, and there was always a danger that the Antarctic could become a base for military and spying activities, and so on. Indeed, there were suspicions about many of the bases that existed around the Antarctic.
However, things change and move on. The international geophysical year of 1957 began the development the Antarctic as a zone of peace and of research, and that narrative has carried on ever since. I hope that we recognise that the world needs the Antarctic as the Antarctic is. We must learn the lessons of its history and recognise its fragility. As the hon. Gentleman pointed out, if we continue to allow our planet’s natural environment to be so damaged and we get a massive melt from the Antarctic, we will, quite simply, all drown as a result—it will be the end. We must not only learn the lessons but carry them through into actions that we take later on.
Throughout the passage of the legislation in 1989 and 1994, and at the time of the environmental protocols, there was concern about the fragility of the environment of the Antarctic and the increasing number of ships that go there and the eco-tourism that takes place. The clean-up following the development of the environmental protocol meant, for example, that non-native species, including dogs, were removed, as were all the other dangers of pollution and contamination. However, if a plane crashed over the Antarctic, which would obviously be a disaster, it would be very hard to extract anyone from it, because the distances are so great and the environment is so hostile.
An even greater danger is that if one of the many tourist vessels crashed into an iceberg or another vessel, or developed a serious fault, the spillage of diesel or other fuel would be catastrophic because it would not disperse or evaporate as quickly as it might in warmer waters, and the pollution would be very serious for a long time afterwards. The quality of vessels that are allowed to go to the Antarctic is subject to conditions and there are strict requirements on the protective measures that they have to undertake. Nevertheless, we must be cautious about the number of visits and the degree of irresponsible tourism that could well develop. I am not accusing the British Government or any of their agents of promoting that, but it is a danger. Importantly, the Bill would place even stricter requirements on British tour operators or anyone else going to the Antarctic.
I would be grateful if the hon. Member for Stroud or the Minister could clarify whether the Bill would apply only to someone from Britain who is in an area of the Antarctic that is not part of the so-called British claim or would apply equally to any part. Likewise, we can pass a Bill in this Parliament only for UK national jurisdictions, or for companies based in or operating in Britain, or for British people using their services, but it is obviously possible that tour operators or other vessels could go to the Antarctic from other jurisdictions. Am I right in assuming that if the Bill becomes law, as I hope it will, the legislation will then have to go through the Antarctic environmental protocol process to enable it to become part of the international agreement?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mark Simmonds)
For the sake of clarity, the purpose of the Bill and, in particular, the liability annex, which is the key point that the hon. Gentleman is talking about, would come into effect only once all the countries that are part of the Antarctic treaty have gone through the ratification process.
Jeremy Corbyn
I thought that that was the position, and I am grateful to the Minister for clarifying it. I assume that he will tell us later that if the Bill becomes law, the British Government will work very hard for that agreement to happen by lobbying all the other parties to it.
I welcome the Bill, which is a huge step forward. I welcome the work of the British Antarctic Survey. I counsel Members not to get involved in some kind of international rivalry. There are legitimate criticisms to be made of Governments who are trying to undermine the environmental protection provisions, but that is not to say that there are not many people in those countries who understand the case for the Antarctic to be for ever a zone of peace, for ever demilitarised, and for ever a world park that we can all appreciate and learn a great deal from. If we in this Parliament pass this Bill, we are giving the signal that we support the work of the British Antarctic Survey, that we support the Act that we passed in 1994, and that we do not wish to be party to the destruction of the Antarctic or, crucially, the natural wildlife that exists all around it.
We have made progress. We in this country no longer exploit whales—that is completely banned, as it is in the majority of countries around the world. However, the commercial pressures of tourism and to exploit the natural resources of the Antarctic and the fish in the whole region are huge. Robust action needs to be taken by national Governments, international treaties and the Antarctic environmental protocol in order to preserve the place for what it is—a wonderful place of beauty. It is, obviously, a risky environment and it is an environment at risk. It is up to us to preserve it for all time, which surely ought to be our main focus in discussing this Bill.
Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) on securing Second Reading for his Bill and commend all hon. Members who have spoken with such passion about this important subject. My hon. Friend has engaged in excellent work to champion the vital cause of protecting the Antarctic. As chairman of the all-party group on the polar regions, which was established last year and focuses on both the Arctic and the Antarctic, I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate and to support what I consider to be a significant Bill that will strengthen, enhance and protect the environment of the Antarctic region.
Antarctica is a truly unique region of the world and Britain has always maintained a very close attachment to it since it first rose to prominence over a century ago. One can only imagine what the explorations were like at the turn of the 20th century, when the courage of those heroic British men spread far and wide until most of the western world had heard the names of Captain Robert Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton. It is, indeed, fitting that we are debating this subject in the centenary year of the fateful Terra Nova expedition, in which Captain Scott and his colleagues tragically lost their lives.
Fortunately, polar expertise has come a long way since those first dangerous pioneering expeditions and now, thankfully, it is much safer for modern explorers. Antarctica, like no other continent, is a region of our planet that remains almost untouched by mankind.
Mr Cash
My hon. Friend has paid an undoubtedly deserved tribute to those who went on the Terra Nova expedition, which ended in tragic circumstances. Captain Scott also went to the Antarctic beforehand, from 1901 to 1904, and the people who went on that particular expedition were going there for the first time—certainly in that era—which was an astonishing feat in itself. Does my hon. Friend agree that attention should be given to that first expedition, as well as to the second one?
Andrew Rosindell
I agree. We should pay tribute to all those who pioneered those early expeditions. We now benefit from the progress made by those brave men, so we should acknowledge all involved.
It is our responsibility to protect Antarctica from those who might cause it damage. Indeed, we have a moral duty to ensure that it is adequately protected, which is why the Bill is so important. It is surely right that Her Majesty’s Government should take preventative measures to shield the environment and enhance the conservation of the Antarctic. The Bill will, I believe, enshrine that protection in law so that those who fail to respect the environment when travelling to Antarctica as part of a British operation can be properly held to account in the British courts for any irresponsible behaviour or damage that they may cause. There will be stronger regulations, fines and penalties for operators who break that code. With an increasing number of expeditions to Antarctica from around the globe, now is the time to introduce provisions that would enhance the protection of this amazing region of planet Earth.
There is another reason why we in the United Kingdom should take the lead in the protection of Antarctica. I urge hon. Members to take a look at Parliament square today. They will see displayed opposite the Houses of Parliament the flag of the British Antarctic Territory flying proudly alongside those of the other 15 British overseas territories and the five Crown dependencies. This is the first time that those flags have been displayed in Parliament square, and that, I believe, is a clear indication that Her Majesty’s Government value the contribution that our territories and dependencies make to the overall success of the Great British family. I am delighted to see the Minister in his place, but I would like to pay tribute to the previous Minister with responsibility for the British overseas territories, my hon. Friend the Member for North West Norfolk (Mr Bellingham), who championed the territories’ cause to ensure that they were recognised, as they are today in Parliament square, with your support, Mr Deputy Speaker.
The British Antarctic territory is our responsibility, so we must not only protect the environment, but uphold the territory’s security at all times. We are all too aware of the claims by Argentina to all three British overseas territories in that region, namely the British Antarctic Territory—which is also claimed by Chile—and South Georgia and, of course, the Falkland Islands. Defence of our national interests in the Antarctic and south Atlantic region is vital. I strongly urge Her Majesty’s Government to remember the importance of maintaining our presence in the seas around the region and to be vigilant to any potential threat.
Jeremy Corbyn
The hon. Gentleman and I work very well together on the issues facing the British Indian Ocean Territory, but may I gently remind him that both Chile and Argentina are signatories to the Antarctic treaty and the environmental protocol and that they host conferences on the preservation of the Antarctic? As far as I am aware, the Governments of Chile, Argentina and the UK have worked well together on preserving the natural environment of the Antarctic. Could we not approach the debate in that spirit?
Andrew Rosindell
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. We have indeed worked very well together on the issue of the Chagos Islands—the British Indian Ocean Territory—which is another policy that I hope the Minister will review. Yes, we will work with Argentina and Chile on the issue of Antarctica—it is our responsibility to work with all the nations that are signatories to the Antarctic treaty—but it would help the cause if they respected the sovereignty of territories that are under the Crown. It is not helpful that countries such as Argentina in particular ignore the democratic wishes of the people of the Falkland Islands and retain an illegal claim over that territory. I hope that they will take the hon. Gentleman’s advice and show respect for the traditions that we all respect, namely democracy and the right to self-determination.
One organisation maintains the British presence in the Antarctic like no other. It is a body with a proud record of scientific research and unparalleled achievements in the field of polar science. It is, of course, the world-class British Antarctic Survey, which, until today, faced a battle for its own survival as the result of a foolhardy proposal by the Natural Environment Research Council to merge BAS with the National Oceanography Centre. I could not have supported that plan in any way whatever.
Mr Spellar
I do not wish to appear churlish, but does the hon. Gentleman not agree that it is unfortunate that we had to await a report of the Science and Technology Committee, chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller), before the Government took action to slap down the proposal, instead of their intervening at an early stage for all the good reasons that the hon. Gentleman and other Members have mentioned?
Andrew Rosindell
I commend the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller) and his Committee for its report, which has certainly made a contribution, but the right hon. Member for Warley (Mr Spellar) might not be aware of the impact of the letter that the Minister recently received from the all-party polar regions group. I had his response today. There has been collaboration from all parties to end the proposal, with many of us working together on it, and all those who have spoken up against it should take some credit. I completely agree, however, with his commendation of that report.
Neil Carmichael
I referred to that report in my remarks, and although it was important, it was the icing on a big cake that had been cooking for quite a long time. A large number of submissions were made about protecting the British Antarctic Survey, and huge efforts were directed towards the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the NERC to prevent the merger from taking place.
Andrew Rosindell
The plan to merge the British Antarctic Survey with the National Oceanography Centre would have, in effect, disbanded the BAS, which could not only have had a devastating impact on Britain’s ability to continue to lead the world in polar research but diminished our standing and our perceived commitment to our overseas territories in the Antarctic and south Atlantic region.
The BAS is one of the world’s leading scientific research institutes, with five bases in the Antarctic and more than 400 staff in total. As the House will be aware, it has a long and distinguished history of carrying out research and surveys in the Antarctic and the surrounding regions. Undertaking most of the British research across that frozen continent, it plays an invaluable role in carrying out highly complicated and sophisticated scientific field research programmes in a way that is cost-effective for the UK taxpayer. Its work and expertise is stunning, and it is a truly great British institution. To have undermined its achievements by forcing upon it a merger with a separate organisation established for different objectives would have been a huge mistake.
The break-up of the BAS could not possibly have been in the interests of Britain, including our wider interests throughout the Antarctic and south Atlantic region. I therefore commend the decision that we have learned about today. However, I draw the House’s attention to the words of Professor Klaus Dodds, a leading academic on polar issues. He stated:
“One of the lessons we learnt in 1981 was that the proposed withdrawal of HMS Endurance, our ice patrol vessel, sent a signal to Argentina that we were losing interest in the region. Argentina is not likely to be invading the Falklands any time soon, but the Kirchner government might think that their best chance of taking over these overseas territories lies in simply waiting for the UK to cut costs and rationalise what we do there. To be clear, British Antarctic Survey and the UK’s credibility in the region lies in very strong part to the high quality science that is undertaken.”
It is clear that any attempt to dissolve the BAS, which I am pleased is now not to take place, would have sent precisely the wrong signal to the nations in the region that have displayed and continue to display a hostile attitude to Britain’s presence there.
The BAS is internationally renowned and has been responsible for many of the great polar discoveries, such as the hole in the ozone layer, which has had a huge impact over the past few decades. For the reasons that I have outlined and many others about which I could speak at length, to quote the former deputy director of the BAS, Robert Culshaw, “Britain needs BAS”. I am relieved that my words and those of many other people have been listened to on that vital topic and that the BAS will remain in operation, I hope, for many years to come.
May I also take this opportunity to mention the BAS scientists currently stationed at the south pole? As hon. Members may know, polar science is generally conducted over the summer months, with a skeleton crew manning the permanent bases over the winter. Right now, many of those staff are preparing to come back after a long and dark winter. Those men and women are essential to the running of the BAS, and it is important that they are given the recognition they deserve for their public service. On the other side of the planet, back in Cambridge, the BAS is gearing up for the summer, with ships and planes full of supplies and staff ready for the long months ahead. Many will be making the long voyage for the first time, and I cannot stress enough the importance of their work.
I am glad that the NERC has dropped the proposals to merge the BAS with the NOC, which could have had disastrous consequences and destroyed a national treasure. It is imperative that a new director is appointed as a matter of urgency so that the BAS can retain its upper management and continue its work in future.
In February, I will be fortunate enough to return to the Falkland Islands to attend a conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. While I am there, I hope to visit the BAS office in Stanley so that I can see at first hand some of the work that it is doing in the southern hemisphere. Indeed, the Falkland Islands is a fine example of the significance of our overseas territories to the work that we carry out in the Antarctic region. The Falkland Islands and South Georgia are important stepping stones in the Antarctic and make operations in the area significantly easier. It is also worth bearing in mind their importance to the Bill. Any expedition setting off from a British overseas territory officially becomes a British expedition and falls under the Antarctic Act 1994, under which British activities in Antarctica are regulated.
I welcome the increased global interest in the region, but it is not without its problems. There are now more than 50 permanent bases in Antarctica and a great many more semi-permanent summer bases, and that huge increase in numbers could have detrimental consequences. Antarctica has a fragile and delicate ecosystem that is incredibly vulnerable to even the slightest change. Although the Antarctic treaty of 1959 addresses the unique situation in Antarctica and goes some way towards protecting the region, much more needs to be done. The Bill tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud would reinforce many existing parts of the treaty while making much-needed additions, so I welcome it and hope that colleagues in all parts of the House will give it their enthusiastic support. It is essential that we maintain the unspoiled landscape of Antarctica and hold people and organisations responsible for their actions should they jeopardise the Antarctic environment. It may be only a matter of time before an incident occurs in Antarctica, and the Bill will go some way towards preventing such an accident or ensuring that its consequences are less far-reaching.
We can all be justly proud of the role that Britain has played in Antarctica for more than a century. Today marks a further step in Britain’s long-standing commitment to that region of our planet, and I commend my hon. Friend’s Bill to the House.
Dr Julian Huppert (Cambridge) (LD)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) on introducing this excellent Bill. He has done a huge amount of work on this matter. I congratulate him also on wearing Antarctic tartan—it looks very good on him, and I hope that other Members will wear it in future.
It is a pleasure to speak after the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), with his track record of legislation in this area, and the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), who chairs the all-party polar regions group. I have the pleasure to serve as the vice-chair, and it is a great pleasure to be his vice.
The Bill, which I am delighted to co-sponsor, has the potential to provide lasting safeguards for an entire continent whose outstanding natural beauty is matched only by its scientific importance. The original Antarctic treaty, signed in 1959, has long upheld peaceful and demilitarised international ownership of the continent. Its original 12 signatories have expanded to 50, and together we remain committed to co-operation and joint scientific endeavour. Although every country is committed through those treaties to the protection of the Antarctic, few have been as committed to scientific work in the area as Britain, particularly through the British Antarctic Survey, of which so much has been said, which is based in my constituency of Cambridge.
I have, I believe, the pleasure of representing more Antarctic workers than any other Member of the House, and I have a number of friends and colleagues who have worked and overwintered in the Antarctic. Indeed, the house next to where I used to live was used frequently by returning BAS members for getting used to a climate in which they could stroll outside or ride a bike, without having to deal with snow and ice. From talking to them, and to non-governmental organisations based around Cambridge—particularly those involved in conservation—and to a huge range of companies involved in this field and elsewhere, I have heard the huge concerns about the proposed merger with the Natural Environment Research Council. The topic has been raised many times in many places, and it is having a huge effect on the morale of people in BAS. They are extremely concerned about their future, and nervous that the merger will see an end to the wonderful independence of BAS and the research it does.
People are quite rightly concerned about the effect on the international reputation of BAS and British science in the area, and concerns about the merger have been expressed from as far afield as former Vice-President Al Gore. I am therefore delighted that yesterday NERC took the correct decision to abandon the merger. That was definitely the right decision, and ultimately it is right for research councils to decide how research funding should be allocated. I pay tribute to the Science and Technology Committee and to its report, in relation to which I submitted evidence, for helping to advise NERC on the correct decision, to the Minister who gave evidence to that Committee, and to others such as Phil Willis, who was formerly a Member of this place but is now in another place. He serves on NERC and has been robust in his opinions about how we can achieve a good future for polar research.
We must look at the future and at what will now happen to BAS, rather than at the past. BAS is clearly a vital national asset, and it has a dual mission that involves both the Foreign Office and pure research. It is fundamentally wrong that for eight months, BAS has been left with an interim director who has another responsibility and no polar experience. Real questions must be asked about how NERC allowed so much of BAS’s leadership to leave in somewhat questionable circumstances—I do not want to air those points in this place, but questions should be asked about how it happened. It is essential to appoint a new full-time director of BAS as soon as possible, with responsibility for delivering that dual mission, including UK commitments under the treaty. It is also important that terms of reference for the director’s post are agreed in advance by the Government—not just the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills—and ideally by Parliament, to show how seriously we take the role of the BAS director.
There will also be discussions about funding for BAS. BAS works in a uniquely difficult place; it will always be expensive to work in the Antarctic. Capital funding is essential, and the Minister for Universities and Science has managed to secure capital funding for seven of the research council’s eight key requests. The eighth request concerns the funding needed for BAS, and I hope that the Minister will persuade the Treasury to support it.
We need support for capital investment on the Cambridge site, and hon. Members who have managed to visit the site will know that further work is required to bring it up to the standard we would expect. Concerns have been raised about BAS’s revenue budget. Even as I speak, redundancies are taking place in BAS. That is causing great concern to many staff, even though they are relived that the merger will not take place.
BAS has done a fantastic job. For more than 60 years it has been responsible for the majority of Britain’s research on the continent, collaborating with international scientists on a diverse and important array of topics. That independent work must remain high-quality, separate, and guided by scientific principles. If we are to continue leading the world on high-impact issues addressed in the polar regions, that autonomy is essential. The survey maintains two ships, five aircraft, eight research stations in and around Antarctica, which are all monitored from BAS headquarters in Cambridge. The work done by BAS’s 400 staff is crucial to our understanding of planetary environmental science.
Dr Huppert
I will briefly although there is a statement at 11 am and I am keen to make progress.
Mr Cash
Despite my reservations about some aspects of the hon. Gentleman’s party and its policies on other matters, may I strongly commend the speech he is making and the interest that he takes in this issue as the Member of Parliament for Cambridge? I understand that he has also been nominated as the only scientist in the House of Commons. I do not know whether that is true, but I am glad to commend him on his speech.
Dr Huppert
I thank the hon. Gentleman very much for that intervention; it is nice to know that we agree on some things. Although it has been said that I am the only scientist in the House, that is sadly not true. I am one of two Members with a science PhD and I went on to do research, but there are other scientists in the House and it always a great pleasure to have them here. However, that is not relevant to the Bill.
BAS does a fantastic amount of work, and the Bill will help with that. It will give scientists in a hostile and at times dangerous environment the additional support they need, and secure the protected status of the unique place in which they work and often live.
Jeremy Corbyn
I compliment the hon. Gentleman on his speech, and the British Antarctic Survey. Will he confirm that BAS works with international institutions all over the world and shares all its research and publications? It makes an important contribution to worldwide efforts to preserve the Antarctic, and does not focus solely on what happens in this country.
Dr Huppert
The hon. Gentleman makes, of course, an accurate and important point. BAS works internationally and collaborates with universities around the world, NGOs, and a range of different organisations. It was suggested in some of the discussions with NERC that it could collaborate further with universities and other organisations, and I dare say that it could. I think, however, that it does an extremely good job of leading internationally.
The Antarctic is an incredibly important area. It is often depicted as an empty and lifeless continent, but nothing could be further from the truth. Understanding its wildlife is vital to a deeper understanding of our world, and its effects on the environment and economic stability matter hugely for us all. The demands that are placed on the polar region are changing, and there is concern in the scientific community that a sudden increase in visitor numbers to the region is applying further pressure on local ecosystems. There has also been an increase in the number of privately organised trips, Commercial activity puts pressure and stress on the krill and fish populations, damaging habitats and environments. The ever-present threat of climate change and future projections of weather patterns remain a priority.
The work being done in the Antarctic by researchers is vital in monitoring what could happen. Already, 10 million people each year are affected by coastal flooding, and projections indicate that that number could soon rise to 30 million. Understanding the Antarctic will make a difference to that. A number of fascinating projects are taking place, which I would talk about if we had more time. Work at Lake Ellsworth poses great challenges regarding how we carry out research in an unspoilt area without accidently spoiling it.
This Bill makes a fantastic contribution. I will not go through each part of it as the hon. Member for Stroud has already done so. It will put environmental treaty regulations into British law, and for the first time will guarantee the “polluter pays” principle for damage to the sensitive ecology of the Antarctic. It will further establish Britain’s position as an international leader by ensuring that the continent continues to symbolise all that is good and right about the preservation of a natural reserve devoted to peace and science. The British people have a responsibility to maintain and protect that fragile wilderness. Fittingly, during the centenary of Scott’s voyage to the Antarctic, the Bill will legally and financially guard a region in which Britain has been keenly involved since those courageous first steps upon the ice. I hope that the House will give the Bill a Second Reading, and ensure that it proceeds into law.
Mr William Cash (Stone) (Con)
In the knowledge that the Government are about to make a statement on the ghastly tragedy in Northern Ireland, I begin by saying that I very much welcome the Bill, which is promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael). He and I differ in our views on another continent, but we are clearly strongly united in our views on Antarctica, which is a very good step in the right direction. The environmental protection of the Antarctic and other aspects—my hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) referred to the relationship with the Falklands and other matters—are immensely important.
I should like to pay tribute to—
Proceedings interrupted (Standing Order No. 11(4)).