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Aviation History
1943
1943 - 1509.PDF
JUNE IOTH, 1943 FLIGHT 607 Debate on Civil Aviation All'day Discussion in the Commons : Designs for Civil Types to be Begun : Qroup Capt. Helmore Makes His Maiden Speech "T TNLESS in the next few weeks some energetic action I I is caken by the Government, we shall, most cer- ^— tainly, find an opportunity of dividing the House on the matter." So said Group Capt. Wright, the hon. and gallant mem- ber for the Erdington division of Birmingham, during the course of his speech in the full-day de*bate in the Commons last week on civil aviation. And a few moments later he added, " The House must be grateful to the two members who opened the debate to-day. They kept their speeches very much to the main issues, and I hope the House will insist that when the Government spokesman replies he also keeps to the main issue. We cannot be satisfied by a few vague platitudes while energetically chasing the many red herrings which have been drawn across the path." Whether the gallant group captain, and others, were indeed satisfied with the replies later given by Mr. Attlee, the Deputy Prime Minister and Dominions Secretary, and by Sir Archibald Sinclair, the Secretary of State for Air, was not disclosed in the 64 pages of Hansard occupied by the report on the debate, but it cannot be said that those replies told the House very much more than was revealed by Government speakers about a month ago when similarly urgent questions were put "in another place"— to use the ^delicate phrase by which each House always refers to the ojher. Indeed, the speeches of Mr. Attlee and Sir Archibald were models of uninformative caution, with one notable exception. Mr. Attlee did at least give the House one definite piece of information when he said, "It has been possible to allocate the different design jobs for some four types of planes to certain firms who may obtain assistance irom other firms as to sections of the design work, so spreading the new work that it will not interfere with either the present or prospective war effort." In short, he.revealed officially for the first time that a definite move has been made by the Government towards getting out designs suitable for post-war civil airliners. Differences of Opinion There was, as might be expected, much disagreement over a number of matters concerning what Britain's future policy should be. In fact it may be said that about the only point on which there was complete agreement was that we must evolve a policy of some kind without delay since civil aviation would unquestionably prove a vital factor in the future well-being of the Nation, the Empire, and, indeed, the whole civilised world. That this funda- mental truth is now universally accepted by both the Government and its sharpest critics was clearly proved by the fact that rather less time than usual was wasted by speakers labouring it; that the speeches as a whole con- SHORT "G " CLASS : J?ritish 4-engined flying boat, threeof which were built for transatlantic service. Span 134ft., top speed 214 m.p.h., luxury accommodation for 24 passen-gers. Cruising speed 185 m.p.h., range 3,200 miles. - LOCKHEED CONSTELLATION : American 4-engined trans-port prototype with pressure cabin and 35,000ft. ceiling. Estimated top speed 350 m.p.h., range about 4,000 miles., Net load 16 tons, seating accommodation 55. tained fewer " blinding glimpses of the obvious " than havemany previous speeches (in and out of Parliament) on civil aviation may well prove to be one reason why, to quote thehon. and gallant membei for Erdington again, " historians will probably say that this debate was one of the mostimportant that has ever taken place in this House, for the whole future of the British Commonwealth of Nations willdepend upon the action which is taken by the Government as a result of it." Fear of Vested Interests Points of disagreement and doubt were, as we have said,many. There was, for example, considerable concern from members of the Opposition lest post-war civil aviationshould fall into the grasp of vested interests and be run with the primary object of lining pockets instead, of pro-viding the best possible service. Mr. Bowles (Nuneaton) was the first to raise this aspect of the case and said itwas his first point that the aviation service should exist tor the public and not the other way round. "It is clear tome from all the reports and the debates," he said, "that people are thinking in terms of vested interests whichclearly implies profits." Two equally important aspects which brought forthdiversity of opinion were that of establishing an Empire policy and that of internationalism in aviation. Mr. Perkins (Stroud), who opened the debate, asked thata round table conference of representatives of the Empire as a whole should be called immediately to London, itwas common knowledge, he said, that talks had been going on for some time, but they had been of a vague nature,'' carried on in a leisurely drowsy atmosphere with no sense of urgency." "The only way in which we shall get decisions," headded, "is to get these representatives of the Empire here in London round a table, and then, I believe, in acomparatively short time, we shall get decisions taken, and, once the Empire is united, then, and only then, willbe the time to discuss those things with our Allies, and in particular with the Americans." The question of aviation's international aspect was raisedby Mr. Tree (Harborough) who rose in support of Mr. Perkins. Saying that various Ministers got up from timeto time and told them they were working very hard to bring about an aviation service second to none, and yetnothing seemed to happen, he thought that they were becoming "bogged down on the subject of internationali-sation." He and his friends had found more misunder- standing and more differences of opinion on the questionof the meaning of the word " internationalisation " than on anything else, and he hoped very much that when theDeputy Prime Minister spoke he would give them his own
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