Baroness Levitt (Lab)

My Lords, as I said in Committee, the Government take the protection of the UK’s subsea cable network extremely seriously. I mean it genuinely when I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Neville-Rolfe, for her continued and sustained attention on this important issue. I would love to be able to give her what she wants, but I am sorry to disappoint her again this evening. The Government cannot support this amendment. It is unnecessary. We have already committed to updating the Submarine Telegraph Act, on which my noble friend Lady Lloyd of Effra, the Minister for Digital Economy, will say more in the coming months. We also consider the existing penalties under the Submarine Telegraph Act to be significant. That said, as part of any update to the Act, this Government will review whether the existing penalties are fit for purpose. Significant changes of this kind must follow proper consultation, especially with our fishing and wider maritime sectors. This is a process that the statutory deadline proposed in this amendment would prevent. Creating such a narrow power to amend primary legislation through secondary legislation is highly unusual. Requiring the Government to report on future legislation through a deadline in an unrelated Act would set an unhelpful precedent. I am more than happy to meet the noble Lord, the noble Earl and the noble Baroness to see if we can find a way through that will satisfy them on the progress that we are making and reassure them that we are genuine when we say that we are doing so—it is not just another patch of that fabled long grass. For these reasons, I respectfully urge the noble Baroness not to press her amendment this evening.