asked Her Majesty's Government:Which were the specific provisions of the UNLOSC III Text to which the British Government took exception, causing it to abstain in the final voting on the text, although other members of the European Community found themselves able to vote in favour of it; and whether they will now make a full statement.

I would refer the noble Lord to the reply which I gave the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, on 5th May (Official Report, cols. 1155–8). Our objective throughout these negotiations has been to achieve a text which would be generally accepted by all parties and could be adopted by consensus. Since this objective was not met, we felt obliged to abstain, together with five other members of the European Community.

asked Her Majesty's Government:By how much licence fees for cars in Hong Kong have been increased; whether this was not contrary to the assurance by the Commissioner for Transport that the Government was not planning large increases; whether prior discussions took place with the Automobile Association, the Transport Advisory Committee and pedestrian representatives; and, if not, why not.

I must emphasise that this is a matter for the Hong Kong Government. Private vehicle licence fees have generally been increased threefold. This is not contrary to any official assurance. The Transport Advisory Committee endorsed these sensible measures to prevent an unacceptable increase in vehicles; but in order to avoid advance avoidance of fees there were no definitive prior discussions with the Automobile Association or any other public body.House adjourned at four minutes past eleven o'clock.