§ 53. Mr. Frank Beswickasked the Prime Minister if he is aware that there have now been two Reports, some details of which have been published, by two different Government Departments with regard to the accident to the Vulcan aircraft on 1st October, 1956; that the court concluded in the one inquiry that an error of the ground controller was the principal cause of the accident and that the Report of the second inquiry concluded that the ground controller should not be blamed; and if he will ensure that in any future accident in which more than one Government Department is involved a different form of inquiry will he instituted.
§ The Prime MinisterThe findings of the Royal Air Force Court of Inquiry into the cause of this accident and those of Dr. Touch who undertook a special inquiry into the operation of the ground control approach system, were reviewed by the Ministers concerned and a statement giving their conclusions on these findings was made by the Secretary of State for Air on 20th December. As regards the last part of the Question, I cannot add to the Answer I gave to the hon. Member for Lincoln (Mr. de Freitas) on Tuesday.
§ Mr. BeswickDoes the Prime Minister recall that in that Answer he referred to the difficulties in the way of a different system of inquiry as being of a complex technical character? Would he not agree, on reflection, that the difficulty really is the reluctance of a Service Department to have any outside body seeking to interfere in its internal affairs? Will he bring his own authority as Prime Minister to bear on the problem and ensure that a different accident procedure is established without any unnecessary further delay?
§ The Prime MinisterI do not accept that view of the Service Department's objection. I think it is a complicated 1171 matter, and I hope to make a statement as soon as it is possible to reach a final conclusion.