He pompously points out that divers would not actually have to hand over the brass. Currently 95 per cent of finds are returned to finders in lieu of salvage, so it is anticipated that the vast majority of divers declaring under the amnesty will not even need to part with their non-dangerous finds. I do hope that the amnesty doesn't turn into a completely paper tiger, as all the divers I know are in favour of the idea of all that brass being melted down to form a great bronze statue of a merchant seaman as a war memorial to all the crewmen who died for Britain to survive. The fact that the statue would be created from parts of their sunken merchant ships makes it a right and proper thing to do. And Trafalgar Square has been suggested as a fitting site for its unveiling.
All real divers support the idea.
Now here's a sad story - one of misplaced trust between one diver and another. John, who is a disabled diver with more than 75 dives in his logbook, is missing two parts of his wheelchair. John was coming back from Sharm when he realised that he had left the anti-tip bars with his dive guide. I'll bring the bars back with me and then post them on to you. A very grateful John handed over his address and 5 to cover the postage.