21. Air Commodore Harveyasked the Minister of Civil Aviation if he will make regulations to ensure that, in future, no statement on air accidents will be made until an inquiry has been held.
§ Mr. ProfumoNo, Sir. It may well be in the public interest that certain information should be made available at the earliest possible moment in such cases.
Air Commodore HarveyIs my hon. Friend aware that when a Comet aircraft crashed at Rome in an attempt to take off, a high official of B.O.A.C. said it was not in any way due to the pilot? Events were subsequently proved to be quite different from that and it was contradicted. Will my hon. Friend issue a directive to the chairmen of the nationalised corporations and private operators that no unofficial statements should be made until an official inquiry has been held?
§ Mr. ProfumoI appreciate the point made by my hon. and gallant Friend. but I do not think it would be possible to devise regulations to prevent such statements from being made, nor would any such restrictions be compatible with the right of the subject to freedom of speech. It is, however, undesirable that statements other than purely factual ones should be made by operators and any other interested parties.
§ Mr. RankinIs the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that as a result of the statement made by the chairman of B.O.A.C. the engine constructors, De Havilland, were compelled to make a statement in direct conflict with it, which appeared in the Press? Is not the making of statements prior to an inquiry by people who are interested something which the Minister ought to prevent?
§ Mr. ProfumoYes, I think that statements which are made should not anticipate conclusions on matters which will need investigation.