§ 57. Mr. MATHERSasked the Minister of Transport if he is yet in a position to make a statement regarding the proposed Forth road bridge; and whether the project to provide a roadway by constructing a dam across the firth between Port Edgar and St. Margaret's Hope is being examined along with other suggested methods of meeting the needs of transport across the Forth?
§ Mr. HERBERT MORRISONWith regard to the first part of my hon. Friend's question, I have nothing to add to the reply which I made to his similar question on the 12th November last. As to the suggested dam mentioned in the second part of the question, the project has only come to my notice in general terms.
§ Mr. MATHERSArising from that reply, which I think the hon. Gentleman will realise does not carry us very far, can he clear the impression, which certainly does obtain in certain quarters, that if this project to bridge the Firth of Forth had been an English one it would have received better attention?
§ Mr. MORRISONI can assure my hon. Friend that there is not the slightest foundation for that suspicion. As a matter of fact, one of the difficulties is that the Scottish authorities are urging that the general principles applicable to English schemes shall be very fundamentally improved in relation to Scotland.