§ 21. Mr. POTTSasked the Secretary of State for Air whether, seeing that an airship, under construction or completed, is costing the State £350,000 as an agreed building price, and that the private company building the airship have by agreement been given the option to repurchase the airship upon making its first successful flight to the satisfaction of 1991 the Air Minister or his Department for the sum of £150,000, thus creating a loss of some £200,000 of the taxpayers' money, he will say who authorised such agreement?
§ Sir P. SASSOONThe agreement to which the hon. Member refers was authorised by the late Government, and he will find references to the arrangement for the repurchase of the airship in the statement of that Government's airship policy made by the right hon. Member for Aberavon (Mr. J. Ramsay MacDonald) in this House on 14th May, 1924, and in the White Paper (Command 2147), dated 24th May, 1924, on the "Airship Contract."
§ Mr. HANNONOn a point of Order. May I ask you, Mr. Speaker, whether it is proper for a member of the Estimates Committee of this House to bring a matter of this kind before the House in the form of a question, when the subject has been already thoroughly discussed in the Estimates Committee, and a Report has not yet been presented to this House?
§ Mr. SPEAKERThat is a matter of etiquette for members of the Committee; it is not a matter for the Chair.
§ Mr. POTTSMay I ask the hon. Baronet whether the £150,000 for which the airship may be repurchased by the private company is the actual value of the airship, and, if so, who made the arrangements?
§ Sir P. SASSOONThe hon. Member asked me who authorised the agreement, and I have told him.
§ Lieut. - Commander KENWORTHYWith regard to what you said just now, Sir, about etiquette, are we to understand that it is not considered etiquette to bring before this House by way of question any matter which has been under discussion before the Estimates Committee? Could we be clear on that point?
§ Mr. SPEAKERI decline to say anything of that kind. I am not aware what members of Select Committees may understand among themselves, but from the Chair I do not propose to exercise any censorship of their functions.
§ Mr. POTTSArising out of what you have said, Sir, may I say that I pressed in the Committee for the order making this arrangement, and for information as to who made it? As I could not get it in the Committee, I want to get it here, and that is why I put down the question.
Mr. THOMASWas not the original scheme, called the Burney scheme, which had been sanctioned by the previous Government, turned down by the late Government, and what was the difference between the financial obligations in both cases?
§ Sir P. SASSOONI should like notice of that question.